Time to take a short break from working on silk… Tammy has run out of canvas, and it is hard to find suitable tapestry fabric, so time to do some cotton canvas for her. While I’m at it I will do some more linen and quilting cottons. I may do some silk as well but it will be with reactive dyes instead of French dye. One thing I think I will try is painting on thin silk (12mm crepe) with canvas underneath. Using the reactive dye, I should get closely matched silk and canvas as the dye is absorbed through the silk into the canvas. Steam the silk and batch the canvas. Could be interesting for bags.
I will be heading back out to Noank in search of more “Noank Bamboo” which I believe is one of the two indigenous types of bamboo for North America. It is not as “woody” as most bamboo I am used to, but for use as a dye this could be an advantage. Noank Bamboo grows wild throughout the area immediately around Noank and is considered a nuisance plant by most locals. If it does yield the same dye effect as the Yellow Groove Bamboo I used last week, I will have a great source for dyestuff.
My source for bamboo around here is great, her bamboo patch is beautiful and although I may be able to get 15 or 20 canes from her each year, more than that and the grove would suffer aesthetically if not physically. I estimate that I can get about 3 yards of silk dyed with two baths from each stalk, but the stalk has to be fresh cut. It’s a lot of effort — cutting down the bamboo, chopping and splitting it into small pieces, processing it for 3 hours, straining off the “tea” that results and then gently stirring the silk for 3 hours in the tea. This is done with half of a 20–25′ stalk for the first bath then, after the silk has dried, it is done again with the second half of the cane to make a second bath for the silk.
Actually I need to overlap the process so as soon as the silk is pulled from the first bath I have the remaining bamboo freshly chopped and ready to start boiling in a fresh bath. Really it is something that would ideally be all done outside and on site of the bamboo grove, especially since the silk has to be exposed to full sun for the effect to happen. If I can use the Noank bamboo (Noank is only 5 minutes away, and not via the bridge an tourist heavy roads) I should be able to cut a few canes (they only reach 12–15′) in the morning and dye all day long. If needed I could even make two trips out to Noank so the bamboo is super fresh.
Is it worth all the effort ?
I certainly think so. The results are subtle, yet spectacular. I am anxious to get some fresh bamboo to try layering this effect over already dyed silk to see how well it layers. Mmmmm teal or turquoise with pearlescent highlights!
Did I say that I love bamboo? So does Tammy after I was able to make her a custom shaped “corner-turner” out of bamboo in about 5 minutes. It would have cost $6 for a plastic one, and the bamboo one we were able to shape exactly as she wanted it very quickly.
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