roll up and dye :: ecoprint essentials

Ecoprint - botanical contact print - bocoprint :: call it what you like, it's one of the simplest and most environmentally friendly means of colouring cloth, and the beauty is that each piece will be unique. In this course I will be sharing the magic of the process, one that I was guided to by a hen (in combination with my Latvian ancestry) in 1991, and teaching you the ecoprint essentials.

It is a simple process that relies on leaves, water and suitable cloth.

You can use small pieces of fabric for your samples, or leap headlong into dyeing clothing. I will show the technique on flat pieces of cloth to begin, but will be demonstrating mostly on underwear, both new and (yes, I can hear you squeaking) those that have been worn and washed for a while. The ecoprint is such a fabulous means of freshening up your favourite clothes, and where better to start than with the unmentionables.

My friends at 'Wonderpants', a small Australian company in Castlemaine, Victoria, have generously offered a 10% discount (which will be ongoing) exclusively for students of this class...and of course all students in any paid class at the School of Nomad Arts also enjoy ongoing discounts at Beautiful Silks and Maiwa Handprints.

I've been wearing Wonderpants for a few years now, and I love them. They're the only underpants that have never crept up where they should not, so comfortable I forget that I'm wearing them. They are made in two options, either pure merino wool or organic cotton with a little elastane blended in :: no annoying extra elastic bits that might lose their will to live after going through a hot dyepot, and they last for years. Best of all, there are no irritating labels that have to be excised to prevent itchy madness!

The beauty of dyeing undies is that they're usually hidden by your clothes so it doesn't matter if they're imperfect (and if your 'plus one' is critical of them, let them look to their own first) and you can refresh them in the dyepot from time to time. If you choose eucalyptus as your dye source you have the added benefit of the anti-bacterial qualities of the genus.