r h a m n u s * a l a t e r n u s

this past weekend, we went exploring a place we didn't know before. It turned out to be quite an amazing piece of nature, made of red clay (presence of iron oxide) & that really made us think of North American canyons or something like that. (I'm pretty sure there are such places all around the world !) Anyway. Hubby & I noticed the presence of an evergreen that was in one of the dyeing books we own. So we picked a couple of handfuls of leaves & drupes(they are not endangered species here), and decided to use them for dyeing. Rhamnus alaternus is know in English under the name of "Italian buckthorn", and in French under the name of "nerprun alaterne". I read that other types of buckthorns were traditionally used for dyeing, but not this one. I love experimenting, don't you ?

I couldn't believe my own eyes to see such a golden, honey color appear, from green leaves & redish drupes !

so here are the final results ... you may wonder why there is a lighter dyed piece of fabric. Well, I decided to throw a piece of UNMORDANTED silk in the dyebath, to see how it would come out. Glad it did dye, even if it didn't dye like the other piece of silk (obviously !)

for your information, I mordanted all pieces(linen, silk, silk yarn, cotton crochet lace) (except that piece of silk) with alum. And hot dyed the leaves & drupes. (simmer/boil) I was so satisfied by the results, that I asked hubby (I have the most awesome hubby, and he's as much interested as me with dyeing with plants) to go collect some more. He also picked other materials that I shall use for solar dyeing. And which will be the theme of another post.

I shall dye again with it tomorrow afternoon. I'm trying to make the most of each season. :) Thanks for reading !