I made this little wet felted and stitched pot to be dyed.
I decided to collect some nettles to dye it. I thought this would be difficult but in fact armed with my gardening gloves it was really easy. I just went to a local small wood and there they were waiting to be harvested . I chopped them up with a knife also wearing my gardening gloves and left them to steep. At this point I did wonder , how small should they be chopped. The scientist in me said as small as possible, the practical person in me said that is just not possible using a knife with gardening gloves and I thought I should not use my hand blender on nettles.
So I steeped and boiled my nettles and then with mordant included added my little vessel. More simmering and standing overnight resulted in this.
I was disappointed. Was this the chopping , or the combined dying and mordanting. who knows? The only way to find out is structured experiments. As I wanted my little pot to look more beautiful I decided to go back to my old trusted favorite – onions skins.
So here the pot is after a redye with onions.
Looking quite luxurious!
I will have to come back to nettles and try and learn how to use them. Has anyone got any suggestions ?
