After some investigation I've determined this: A distilled (boiled down) leaf tannin will, once soaked into the cloth, hot or cold, react to the cold-soaked elm leaf mixture (which may include alum, I forget!) by turning from light brown to dark purple. This shade when dry has lightened by maybe 50%. I did a number of experiments today, on both dupioni silk and a cotton-silk blend. The dupioni had been boiled in leaf tannin (from a mixture of elm, gingko and caltalpa) as a bundle with the leaves wrapped inside. This dried overnight. The silk blend was untreated. No combination of known dye ingredients on my desk produced the purple results on the silk blend, but the dupioni purpled right away in response to the elm mixture. I soaked another piece of silk in what was left of the boiled mixture, and prayed it with the cold elm -- it purpled immediately. So, questions that remain include -- did I add alum to the cold mixture? I really should take better notes. And, was the mordant from the boiling pot a factor?
As to the second question, I'm thinking the pot was not a factor. I suspect it was iron, for one thing, and for another I believe I produced essentially the same results a week ago and used a different pot, I suspect aluminum.
So, while my cuticles are BLACK, I have learned something interesting!
On the right, the dupioni silk drying in the window. Middle, a piece of similarly treated antique organza. At left, a piece of silk soaked in the runner bean flower dye, a delicate pinkish-orange.
No comments:
Post a Comment