Compost dyeing

To dye with natural dyes you usually need dyestuffs from wich to extract pigments, mordants to bind them to the fiber and heat to set it all in motion. This time I left out the last and used the power of mold instead. The technique is called compost dyeing and it goes like this: First you scatter the vegetal matter on the damp fabric, you can use anything, leaves, lichens...I mostly used lichens, because I read that they work specially well with this technique, I also used onion skins and eucalyptus leaves. Then you must wrap it in plastic film to keep the humidity within and let it rot for a couple of months. I left it fo or two months. At first I thought I wouldn't be able to stand the impatience, but I scarcely gave my stinky wrap a thought in all this time. I forgot to take pictures when I prepared the packet, so all the pictures are from when I opened it, with the emotion of a christams morning.
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to photograph smells?

Unfortunately at some points the wools itself rot and broke.

I think next time it needs more dyestuff.

The rose (and the mushroom)

After a (long) summer break I went back to dyeing.

In summer most plants are dry, and there is nothing worth harvesting, but with autumn comes rain and with rain comes life. The new mushroom season has provided a lot of inspiration and new things to try.
The fibre on the following picture I could have dyed anytime because I used an exhaust bath of cochineal wich of course I didn't harvest myself

The fiber on the last picture was dyed with mushrooms, the paler beige is from clitocybe nuda and the darker is from lactarius sanguifluus . I had expected a more exciting result from the first one, violet maybe? But still, it's ok. Before anyone says anything, I have to say that I didn't pick up the delicious lactarius sanguifluus just to dye with them, I only used the stem and rotted parts to make the dyebath, and we ate the actual mushroom.

All mordanted with alum and cream of tartar.