Art and Adaptation Project - Eco dye garments

I decided to submit to a local art project Art and Adaptation. I had the opportunity to submit up to 3 photos of works that could be displayed in light-up art boxes around my town. The theme was adaptation and transformation and how this applies to our local context: so why not enter some transformed garments, since the reuse and recycle movement is so strong here?
My concept was that I would take before and after photos of my dyed garments and I pictured them as mirror images. 
No other available model but myself!

 A pity this one blurred! Oh well, learning experience, and I took other photos.

This shirt.. was not flattering!

I think the ones with me in them are probably more interesting than just the clothes, but I tried some of them too.

 The next stage is seeing how they turn out after the dye... could be anything!

 The flowers are loving the bits of rain we get at the moment 😃

Another day of dyeing. Aaaaaand..... the results!

 Mixed results with the photography.

 And with the success of the dye. I had a couple that I could work with though.

A bit of photoshop and creativity, and this is what I came up with.

I didn't end up submitting the green dress, because I didn't think it was interesting enough. People are much better subjects. 

 I was really happy with this one in the end, though trying to take outdoor photographs in the tropics WHILE WEAR WOOL is crazy!

 But this is probably my favourite, especially the 'after' shot.  

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Upcycled denim jacket with rust dyed fabric

This denim started out as any denim jacket does: plain and blue. But though I like blue, I'm not so keen on plain. 

So I started adding eco dyed lace.

And then some eco dyed patches, because these spring prints needed a garment home.

A sleeve unpicked from a rust dyed shirt.

Some grumbling from my machine about sewing through denim!

That scrap of eco dyed lace that I loved, that just needed the right thing to go on.

And there you have it: ready in time for my stall.

 

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Printing leaves and stencils onto eco dyed clothes again!

I did my last fabric printing day before my craft stall last week - and boy was it hot out in the carport! The weather is stinking up here, I can't wait for the rain to come.
As before, I had some plain clothes and some shirts that I had dyed that hadn't come out with strong patterns that could use something extra.
The metal circle printed well on this linen top, but everything else is a bit vague.

None of the stencils that I had suited, so I went and clipped a small palm frond from the garden instead.

I rolled paint over the top of it to create an outline and was very happy with it.

Looks like a different shirt now, huh? Very tropical!

What I did on another shirt was to then turn the leaf over and press it down to create a print.

I love the detail that came through.

I'm not responsible for the dye on this shirt, but I'm really happy with the overall look now.

And with this other one, too. Layers of leaves on this one.

The leaf got a lot of use!

 Other shirts got lino prints.

Simple but effective. I thought about layering colours of these prints, but decided it was too much.

And of course my favourite - the bush chook. Though I printed them in brown this time instead of black.

To get the two colours I tape over the legs, print the body, and then remove the tape to do the second colour.

The brown goes well with the eco dye.

Not to mention on other colours.

 My sundew stencil also got a workout.

 These pants are now officially funky - pity they're too small for me!

 A few little arrows on this one in the small blank bit. The bike chain links printed well on this shirt.

 These may need some more work, but they remind me of gardening around my place.

Hopefully someone will enjoy owning them as much as I have enjoyed making them.
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Did some eco/natural dyeing again

It was half a day's work, but it was fun as always. I'm getting better with my setup and pack down now, when I eco dye at home.
It was a very colourful pot, with cotton, linen and silk.

 A nice little array on the line, drying in the sun initially.

 I'm not a fan of pastel, but the dye process always changes this.

 Some unexpected touches in lace that I thought wouldn't dye!

Here are some of the results. Lots of colour wash this time, very interesting.

 I have a water lily stencil that I want to put over this one.

 This is very pretty, the way the lace trim took up the dye.

 Love those springs!

 This was one of the best of this lot. Great horse shoe prints.

 Lovely speckles on this silk, from the tea leaves.

 And this little top- the copper of the lace has all come from the dyeing!

I did only get my leaves that morning, so maybe they didn't soak long enough and that's why we didn't get strong prints. Apart from this one:

Almost ready for a craft stall now.
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