4. BioChromes
As the week was presented, for me it is all about what natural dying can offers to my practice! In my textile studies I never was close to dying experiments, so it's a great opportunity to learn a lot (as every fabricademy week actually).
I wanted to share with you the work of Clement bottier, he was my teatcher in my first year of textile design and he's a master of natural dying !
Context
This week was particular, because I had to manage two situation in the same time. First the fabricademy program and second I was part of the #IloveScience festival and I needed to prepare it !
Every years, the Green Fabric participate by giving textile workshop for childrens. So, this Fabricademy week was a great opportunity to share what natural dying is !
Pitch of my workshop : PIMP MY CABBAGE
→ THIS-------------------IS-----pH--------------EXPERIENCE
→--------WORKSHOP-----A-------CABBAGE------------------!!!!
By using a cabbage ink with blockprint pr cabbage itself on a fabric, you will be able to understand how pH works, and what is the anthocyane molecule ! ☼ Creation of a blockprint Cabbage form to use it on piece of fabric with ink cabbage and modify the print by adding acid or basic pH (vinegar and Baking Soda)
INSPIRATION : ↓ BRUNO MUNARI ↓
The book presents a method of printing roses on paper using lettuce or other vegetables. The method is explained and then illustrated. It aims to encourage children and adults to work together.
Days 1
In my dayly walk to go to the green fabric, I picked some plants I liked without plannified what I will going to do with them. For the plant I didn't recognize I used the app plant.net on my smartphone.
1 * Hedge clematis * 2 * Rose of France * 3 * Bamboo * 4 * Nettle * 5 * Oak bark
☺☺☺☺☺ oak bark dying bath preparation ☺☺☺☺☺
→ Near to the Green Fabric, an oak tree, because it was sick, was completely cut down. Sophia and I felt that it was a great opportunity to come and glean the oak bark left from the cuttings. ←
1 Soak the bark in water in a large sink.
2 Using a flat screwdriver and a hammer, remove the bark from the central wood.
3/ Cut the bark into small pieces by hand and leave it soaking for at least 24 hours in water to soften the bark.
Days 1&2
☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼ WORKSHOP PREPARATION ☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼
→ 1
Cutting around 108 pieces of fabrics (A4): why ? → beacause for each day (friday/saturday/sunday) I gave 6 workshops that gathered 6 childrens.
→ 2
preparation of the ink cabbage.
.............................☺☺☺ INKS PREPARATION ☺☺☺..............................
RECIPE
You will need :
* Red cabbage
* Blender (or with a knife)
* Pans
* Scale
* Spatula
* Immersion blender (or whisk)
* Fine strainer (in metal or a piece of mesh)
* Gum arabic
* Household vinegar or lemon juice
* Baking soda
STEPS
1 weigh your cabbage.
2 Blend your cabbage.
3 In a pan, add your cabbage and add three times its weight in water.
4 Wait for the boiling, then you have to wait about 15 minutes, until the water reduces by a third.
5 Filter the cabbage juice by passing it through a fine mesh.
6 Press the cabbage to extract as much juice as possible.
7 Weigh your cabbage juice.
8 Add the gom arabic (1/3 of the weigh cabbage juice)
8.1 Add the gom arabic gentely, little by little and mixe it with a whisk.
8.2 or as a brute mixe with an immersion blender (what I did actually...)
ink tests with "Green Fabric" blockprint
→
...........................☺☺☺ BLOCKPRINT PREPARATION ☺☺☺............................
1 → Find on google image insides of cabbages and make screenshots.
2 → vectorisation on illustrator
// LAST MINUTE PROBLEM // The laser cutter broke so I had to think another way to make my print.
4 → Use a inkjet printer to make a transfer on the blockprint gom.
// LAST LAST MINUTE PROBLEM // Someone in the lab took the inkjet printer for the festival #Ilovescience, so I had to think another way to make my transfer.
5 → Use the unfixed ink on fabric from the textile printer to transfer directly onto the blockprint.
6 → Place a weight to ensure that the transfer works.
7 → Carve the blockprints with your hands.
ink tests with cabbage blockprints
→
☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼ MORDANTS PREPARATION ☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼
While I was doing the preparation of the festival, I assisted Sophia to make the mordants for coton fabrics and wool. My part actually was to take Sophia in photo for every steps.
Here are the notes she takes for the mordants recipe :
Days 2
☺☺☺☺☺ Eco Print with random plants ☺☺☺☺☺
1 → In a mordanted fabric, wrap a plant to form a small bundle.
2 → Put your bundles in the steamer.
3 → Wait more or less 1 hour.
FESTIVAL #ILOVESCIENCE
↓↓↓↓↓↓ ☺ ↓↓↓↓↓↓
Monday ☼ Indigo ☼ Oak bark
We reused an indigo bath made during the Fabricademy 2023/2024 with Stéphanie. You can follow Stéphanie's documentation to learn how to make the indigo bath. The steps to follow are simple to reactivate the bath: * Stir the bath until the liquid is smooth. * Now that the bath is ready, you need to soak your textile three times and rinse it in between.
