july 4,2021 at our bit of earth, madder in the garden
october 15, 2021 madder root harvest (3 years in the ground)
october 20, 2021 madder root rinsed, chopped and on the scale
october 23, 2021 (left, madder root dye on cotton) (right, madder root on raw silk) out of the dye pot and into the rinse pail.
top two fabrics, cotton fabric manipulated with shibori techniques, middle two fabrics, cotton, bottom two fabrics, raw silk.
madder root dye on vintage linens. (mordanted with soy milk).
swatches in my dye journal.
my portable meditation/healing project. hand dyed solids. along with my trusty needle case and thread cutters.
nine patch square #1 of nine. (madder root dye and yellow onion skin dye).
my growing collection of hand dyes.
indigo, tansy, marigold, birch catkins, yellow onion skins, (non native avocado pits and skins), madder…
When I first started my blog over on the blogspot platform years and years ago, I thought long and hard about what to name it. My daughter-in-law Dawn came up with “sew and sow life” and I remain forever grateful to her. She really caught the essence of what we’d be up to before we even manifested our dreams.
Batman is my partner in all of this, gardening with enthusiasm, and encouraging my journey with fabric and needle.
To plant, nurture, harvest and dye.. in this spot in Vermont that we lovingly call our “bit of earth”* is deeply, deeply satisfying. This work connects my heart, my hands and my spirit. In these bizarre times, what more can a person ask for? To be rooted in a sense of place that nurtures how we walk in the world…just, amen to that!
If there is curiosity about the “how to’s” of natural dyeing maybe I’ll put together a page of resources…It’s a long process, requiring patience and a curtain letting go of control as each dyer works in partnership with Mother Nature. But that’s part of the magic.
ALSO, THANK YOU FOR YOUR VERY THOUGHTFUL COMMENTS ON MY LAST POST, FRIENDS. THEY WARM MY HEART. xo
* “a bit of earth”, taken from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. This version has especially lovely illustrations.