Wednesday, 22nd April is Earth Day and we’re celebrating with some eco-friendly at home crafts! At Monsoon we’re passionate about looking after our planet, from sustainable fabrics to our artisan collections, we believe in seeking an eco-friendly world however we can – art at home is one of them.
Art is at the very core of Monsoon; it is in our DNA and influences so many of our collections. That’s why we’ve decided to create our own art club. To start we spoke to our design team for tips on how to make natural dye and create woodblock printing inspired by Earth Day.
We’d love to see how you get on, please tag us in any photos with the hashtag #mymonsoon and they could be included in our next post!
How to At Home: Natural Dye
You will need:
Natural fabric – cotton, silk, linen, wool
Stockpot or large pan (ideally stainless steel as will not stain)
Water
A cup of salt/washing soda
Natural dye material of choice (see step 2)
Mordant – optional (dye fixative – alum)
Gloves
Utensils to stir with
Step 1 – Preparing the fabric
Wearing gloves, the fabric needs to be cleaned with washing soda (I used one cup per gallon water) can use salt if you wish as an alternative.
Add to a large pan with water (enough to fill pan). Add fabric and turn up the heat then let simmer for 2 hours. Stir occasionally, drain and rinse once cool.
Step 2 – Making the dye
You can use:
Dried black beans = black (these will need to be soaked overnight- once drained the black water is the dye)
Ground turmeric= golden yellow
Spinach=green
Beetroot= pink
Red cabbage= purple
Blueberries= lilac
Avocado pits/skins= soft pinks
Leaves= pale yellows/greens/browns
Dried flowers of your choice
Roughly chop your choice of dyeing material, pile in a large pan, fill with water, sprinkle with salt and bring to the boil then simmer for an hour. Set liquid aside.
Step 3 – Soaking the fabric in mordant (optional)
For this step you will need to soak the fabric in mordant, to make the colour stick to the fabric if you will be washing it. Alum is one of the least toxic mordants and can be found in supermarkets (used for pickling).
Wearing gloves stir in a few teaspoons of alum into a cup of boiling water – pour into a large stainless-steel pan of cold water, stir in the fabric, simmer for an hour.
If you are using alum/plants keep this pan separate for dyeing, do not use for cooking afterwards as even some plants can be toxic!
Once cool, rinse with cold water still wearing gloves.
Step 4 – Dyeing Process
You should use enough dye so the fabric can move freely. At this stage, you can do a tie-dye technique if you wish to – see our how to below & our Instagram page for the video!
Place the fabric in the pan/a bucket – leave at least an hour or overnight. Stir occasionally. Once you are happy with the colour, rinse with cold water and leave the fabric to dry. The colour will lighten when the fabric dries.
How to At Home: Tie Dye
You will need:
Natural fibre fabric – or whatever you would like to dye!
Elastic bands or string
2 wooden triangles or two wooden squares (approx. same size)
Dye solution and dye bucket
Utensil to stir
Water
For circles:
Step 1
Lay out the fabric flat, get elastic bands or string – although elastic bands are much easier! Start near a corner and gather the fabric up in your hand, pop your elastic bands around, where you have the elastic bands will be where dye does not appear.
Step 2
To get a smaller circle inside the larger circle just add another elastic band higher up.
Step 3
Once you have as many circles as you wish you are ready to place in the dye bucket.
Step 4
Leave at least one hour or overnight, then rinse in cool water and leave to dry, the fabric colour will lighten while drying.
For squares & circles:
Step 1
Lay your fabric out flat, take your wooden triangle or wooden square and place at a right angle on the fabric to get apron scale.
Step 2
Fold over the fabric, then fold back on itself (like an accordion) until you get to the end.
Step 3
Then place your wooden triangle or square on top at a right angle, and again fold then fold back on itself until you get to the end. You will be left with a triangle or square.
Step 4
Now sandwich your fabric triangle or square in between the 2 wooden pieces. Tie 3-4 elastic bands around the triangles or squares.
Step 5
Now it’s ready for the dye bath.
How to At Home: Woodblock Printing
You will need:
1 large household sponge (we used a face painting sponge)
1 woodblock (available in most art stores/online)
1 water jar
2 tonal acrylic paints
Step 1
Colour wash your page using the watered-down acrylic paint (use your lightest tone paint) and large sponge and leave to dry
Step 2
Mix acrylic paint with water on a plate
Step 3
Wet your sponge and dip into the paint, then sponge this onto your woodblock
Step 4
Hold the block level above the page and press down evenly across the block
Step 5
Lift directly up and repeat sets 3-5
How to At Home: Floral Prints
Items you need:
1 large household sponge (I used a face painting sponge)
1 smaller sponge (I used a make-up sponge)
1 paintbrush
1 mixing palette
1 water jar
Mixed acrylic paints
Step 1
Colour wash your page using watered down acrylic paint and large sponge and leave to dry
Step 2
Roughly mark out the lightest flowers using the white paint and a smaller sponge
Step 3
Roughly add the mid-tones using the same small sponge
Step 4
Blend the colours together using a small sponge
Step 5
Paint in some steams + central parts of the flowers using a paintbrush
Step 6
Paint in the darkest tones in your flowers using the paintbrush
