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In the botanical printing groups online, you will read the term 'iron blanket' often. And I would like to explain to you what it is and how you can use it. In short: an iron blanket is a piece of fabric soaked in a ferrous sulfate solution. The ferrous sulfate reacts to tannins in the leaves, and sometimes tannins in the target piece. The target piece is the fabric we want to have printed as our final result. Ferrous sulfate and tannins always create different shades of gray to black, depending very much on the type of tannins used. The classic way of creating blacks and other dark backgrounds in botanical printing is the use of tannins in combination with ferrous sulfate (often called; iron). It's quick, easy, and does not contain too many steps which makes it a popular choice, but it must be said that the ferrous sulfate will inevitably weaken your fibers over time. One extra reason to use it with good measuring and not just in the 'rusty nails bucket', where we have no real control over the amounts of ferrous sulfate. How to make an iron blanket Take a piece of cotton or linen that is the same size as your target fabric and weigh it, this will be your iron blanket. After you have weighed your blanket material dry, and you have noted the weight on a piece of paper, you now have to soak it in cold water. This is called 'wetting out'. Wetting out makes sure your uptake of ferrous sulfate will be even and that will avoid blotches and stains. Weigh 1% WOF Ferrous sulfate and dilute it with plenty of warm water in a bucket. 1% Weight of Fiber means that for every 100 grams of dry fabric, you will need one gram of ferrous sulfate. Put your pre-wetted fabric in the new bucket of ferrous sulfate solution and soak the 'blanket' for about 10 minutes, working the fabric well in the water so to create an even distribution. Failing to do this will create dark spots in your final project! After soaking, rinse the fabric and wring out most of the water, leaving the fabric. Now your iron blanket is ready for further use. There are different ways of using this iron blanket. The first: Spread your target piece (mordanted with whatever you want. Add leaves Put the iron blanket on top of this Add a barrier Roll the bundle. This method creates black outlines on your tannin-rich leaves. We love this method for simple and quick botanical prints on silk. The second way to utilize an iron blanket: is to create a different colored background on your botanical print. Mordant your project piece (silk or wool) with the tannin of your choice at 10%WOF. Take a piece of cotton or linen that is the same size as your target fabric and weigh it, this will be your iron blanket. Measure 1% WOF Ferrous sulfate and dilute it with plenty of warm water in a bucket. Soak the 'blanket' for about 10 minutes, working the fabric well in the water so to create an even distribution. Failing to do this will create dark spots in your final project! Take the silk or wool out of your tannin bath and rinse it so there will be no powder residue left. Wring it and spread it out on your work surface. Take your leaves and lay them down side facing the target fabric. Take the blanket out of the ferrous sulfate bucket and wring well. Lay the iron blanket on top of your leaves. You now have a sandwich of target fabric, leaves, and an iron blanket. It is a good idea to now add a barrier of brown paper, or recycled plastic. Roll up the entire sandwich using a dowel and tie the 'sausage' well using rope or strips of cotton. Steam or boil for 90 minutes at least. The iron will create a dark background where there are no leaves.

"But why are you putting up a recipe here Suzanne? Is this not a site about natural dyes?" You are 100% correct. But it is also Rosh HaShannah, our Jewish New Year, and I am cooking up a storm. All the food revolves around 'simanim', tokens for the new year. For example: Apples and honey, so we may have a good and sweet new year. Pomegranate, so our merits will be abundant like the seeds of the pomegranate. A fish or sheep's head, so we may always be the head and not the tail in life (I am just having a whole fish minus the tail). I am always making apple cake recipes and also making lots of green vegetables like peas, to symbolize renewal and abundance. This apple cake recipe is our family's favorite because it is so easy to make, and so delicious that I decided I must share the recipe with you. Prep time is 20 minutes and 45 minutes in the oven. What you need: 4 or 5 large green apples like Granny Smith (if you are Dutch you will take those sour baking apples) 1 pack (200 grams, 7 ounces) of butter, or a non-dairy alternative like Naturina. 1 cup (200 grams, 7 ounces) white sugar 1 cup (200 grams, 7 ounces) self-raising flour 3 large eggs (or 4 medium) I weigh them to be 200 grams. a small sachet of vanilla sugar a teaspoon of cinnamon. a baking dish (buttered, or lined with baking paper. a pan or skillet Start by pre-heating your oven at 190ºc (370 Fahrenheit) Take a regular pan or skillet and start melting the butter with your sugar. Once the sugar is completely dissolved stir in the self-raising flour and take off the heat. Peel your green apples, quarter, and remove the core. Cut each quarter into three. The batter is now cooled down a bit, quickly mix in your eggs. until they are fully dissolved and the batter looks even and glossy. In your baking dish, lay down a layer of apples. Pour half of your batter on the apples. Arrange your second half of apples. Pour the second half of your batter on the last apples. Shake the dish a bit to spread out the batter evenly. Sprinkle with vanilla sugar and cinnamon. Bake for 50 minutes. This is my cake, but also spot the handwoven tea towel from Oaxaca there. Let me know if you have tried this apple cake recipe, and how you liked it. From my family to yours: may you have a wonderful New Year, and may you be inscribed in the Book of Life. I wish you health, and lots of creative play, and may your hands be blessed to make the most wonderful creations. Much love, as always Suzanne

Examples of substantial dyes that do not need a mordant to dye fabrics; Turmeric Cochineal Alder Buckthorn Indigo

A lot has been said about the sustainability of different fibers, and silk has been getting a bad reputation in the last years with large companies like ASOS banning silk from their collections under pressure from organizations like PETA. The ease with which fashion companies have removed silk from the collection, immediately had me thinking that that would be an easy way to replace silk with cheap, shiny and very environmentally unfriendly replacements like polyester. We have to distinguish between ethical (is it ok to wear animal based materials), and sustainable (is silk better or worse than other fibers?). What we choose to wear, buy, or eat, is ultimately a personal choice. It is worth mentioning, though, that practically any product comes with its own set of ethical tradeoffs. Some facts and numbers Silk is a natural protein fiber produced by the larvae of the silk moth. There are more than 500 species of wild silkworms in the world. Silk is the only natural filament fiber. A filament from one cocoon can measure 600-900 meters. Silk production is less than 0.2% of the global fiber market. Silk can either be reeled or spun, depending on the way the silkworm leaves the cocoon. Silk is divided in two types; domestic (mulberry) and wild silk (mugs, tassar, eri). The silk industry has traditionally always been an agro-based cottage industry in many countries, and in these counties, this sericulture is an important part of local culture. Worldwide more than 600.000 tons of silk is produced per year. China produces more than 60 % of the world's silk per year, with over 400.000 tons of production per year. Most of this silk is industrial and not part of a cottage industry. Work conditions and production processes in this industry are infamously vague and it is very hard to get real numbers. India comes second with around 160.000 tons of yearly production, most of which is wild grafted peace silk. Uzbekistan is the third-largest producer of silk, with around 18.000 tons of production per year. Countries with large traditional silk sericulture are: China India Vietnam Uzbekistan Thailand Brazil In total there are over 25 countries that still produce silk as a real part of their economy. (source) In Madagascar a silk project has been set up to protect the rainforest, other countries like Rwanda also explore silk as a possible export crop that can stimulate local economy, Sericulture as a solid way of employment. In India, silk sericulture is practiced in over sixty thousand villages. Just in the state of Karnataka alone, more than nineteen thousand villages raise silkworms for the silk industry. This business is providing employment to roughly 6 million people in those rural areas of India that otherwise do not have many economical opportunities. It is calculated that the silk production from the cultivation of mulberry trees to the weaving process on just one acre of land, creates as many as 1000 days of employment. In most other silk-producing countries the situation is similar: sericulture creates low-stake (minimal investments) employment in rural areas that are otherwise not endowed with many employment opportunities. Moreso: a high percentage of the people working in sericulture is female, and this is helping women become players in the decision-making process. Taking that away will cause a large gap in income and status that is not easily filled with any alternative. Is silk eco-friendly? The answer is: it depends. Large industrial silk production is not eco-friendly at all. It uses tons of water (for growing the mulberry trees, reeling, and for degumming) and energy (Keeping controlled temperatures, heating the water used for reeling and cleaning, and hot air to dry filaments and fabrics). This is not the case in the cottage industry, here the worms grow in the open air, and they eat what is available. Mulberry trees are grown in areas that are otherwise not suitable for crop growing. The silk processing in this cottage sericulture is notoriously low-tech and does not even use any energy in most of the steps. There is no reeling in water (the silk is spun) and the spinning and weaving are done manually. Water use If we look at the water-use in the silk industry these are the rough numbers: To produce just one conventional cotton shirt (approximately 140 grams) requires approximately 3000 liters of water. The water footprint of one handwoven silk shirt is 376 liters. An organic linen shirt is your best option when it comes to water footprint: 33 liters of water on average for one shirt. Environmental Pollution No doubt that when it comes to pollution, silk is one of the most environmentally sound options available. No pesticides are used on the mulberry trees, which we surely can not say about the cotton industry. Silk is a circular and zero-waste fabric. It is a renewable resource, it is completely biodegradable, and the production process uses less chemicals, and energy than many other fibers. The biggest pollution takes place during the degumming and bleaching stage of production. The use of sulphur dioxide, sodium hydrosulphite, and sodium or zinc sulphoxylate formaldehyde is in itself not the biggest issue, but the uneducated use of it without proper protective gear, and the uncontrolled disposal of waste water is. For comparison: cotton growing typically use many hazardous pesticides like aldicarb, phorate, methamidophos and endosulfan. In cotton processing we see the use of ammonium sulfate, hydrochloric acid, benzidine, and oxalic acid. Linen is traditionally touted as the most environmentally friendly fiber. But the current blast in linen use, makes that more producers are using fertilizers and irrigation to speed up the growing process, and strong alkali to reduce retting times. My children would say: 'this is why we can't have nice things'. Labour issues there have beentanks about the silk industry and labour circumstances, but here is my but: there are labour circumstance issues in the entire fashion industry (Bangladesh sweat shops anyone?). The only way to avoid it is by buying fair trade, GOTS etc and working with suppliers whom you know are responsible. When you are buying industrial, cheap mill silk from China, you must know that there have been short-cuts somewhere along the production line. What are the alternatives to silk? During the late 19th century, viscose/rayon was developed as a silk substitute. This man-made cellulose fiber is produced from wood pulp. While this sounds attractive, you should now that viscose processing is one of the most polluting industries in the world because it requires highly toxic chemicals and the regenerative-ability of the wood source is doubtful. Banana silk, lotus silk, rose silk etc, are all new buzzwords for the same viscose process made from different sources. If it is not certified with OEKO tex or GOTS there is absolutely no traceability. Polyester leaks microplastics into the water and it is not biodegradable. Factories producing polyester without wastewater treatment systems can release dangerous materials like antimony, cobalt, manganese salts, and sodium bromide into water streams. Choosing your silk: For me personally, silk is my most beloved fabric together with linen. It is durable, feels amazing and it is a joy to dye and print with. To make sure am getting the best silk that also leaves me with a clear conscience, I prefer handwoven silks from solid, reliable sources, with a fair-trade label. If they are unbleached or half bleached it is even better. I highly recommend the handwoven matka silk, silk noil and bulbul silks you can find here.

from the main square, block-printed table linens flutter on washing lines, and the smell of a fresh indigo This is the Färbermarkt—Europe’s liveliest celebration of Blaudruck (resist block printing with indigo The cloth is dipped repeatedly into an indigo vat and the printed, protected areas resist the dye. The old vats were urine vats with woad, later substituted by imported indigo. Take a detour : this year’s special exhibition pairs Austrian indigo with Korean notan blueprints—an

Bloom The light surface sheen or silvery coating that can appear on indigo-dyed fabrics, from indigotin Enteric Fermentation Vat A traditional indigo vat that uses manure and fermentation to reduce indigo Fermentation Vat An indigo dyeing vat that uses organic matter (bran, fruit, etc.) to reduce indigo Indigotin The active blue pigment in indigo-producing plants; insoluble in water but soluble when Vat Dye A dye that requires a reduction process to be soluble, such as indigo.

I have made a list of suggestions and I will write down how you can achieve them: Frosty Blue Indigo, A single quick dip in a weak indigo vat results in a soft blue reminiscent of a clear winter sky. I have new downloads on how to create a ferrous sulfate indigo vat, just make sure you cut the amount of indigo into a third: Silvery Gray Iron modifiers are your best friend for achieving soft grays. Start with a light weld or fustic base and finish with a quick indigo dip or a light iron modifier.

compound, the same structure as that found in woad ( Isatis tinctoria ) or true indigo ( Indigofera This blue is chemically identical to indigo ( C₁₆H₁₀N₂O₂ ), but derives its sanctity from its marine These blues would not only be visually similar to indigo but also carry the ritual significance of marine Indigo vats, especially those prepared through fermentation, must be kept covered and undisturbed between The Costume of the Jews of Yemen (for mentions of indigo vs tekhelet practices) Talmud Bavli, Menachot

Indigo (Tarum) The captivating blue of indigo is one of the most iconic natural dyes in Indonesia. longeracemosa), indigo has been used for centuries in regions like Java and Sumba. In some places, indigo is made with raw leaves in a large wooden bowl. In other places, indigo paste is used in a vat reduced with palm or cassava sugar. At DekelDyes we sell indigo (longeracemosa) powder from Java. 2.

This month was heavy for my country, and I sought solace in my indigo vat. May with some wood-finishing experiments for two furniture designers and a new marbling technique for indigo Along the way, we visited my friend Eyster’s indigo workshop, where she cultivates her own indigo plants , and creates indigo batik textiles. A surprise visit to Ikat artist Kornelis Ndapakamang was the icing on the cake, we could see how indigo

Until now, my Indigo has always come from India. Indigo is notoriously hard to track specifically and even though my Indigo is from excellent quality, There are species of Indigo grown in Indonesia I did not even hear of before; Indigo Arrecta and Indigo known as Bengal Indigo. To try Indonesian Indigo click here. For Indian Indigo click here. We now also have woad!

dried indigo leaves. Green Indigo (dried indigo leaves of Indigofera tinctoria) When you use green indigo (see also this blog Drying indigo loses up to 50% of the indican. 50% indigotin in indigo powder is considered excellent, use in indigo batik art. Indigofera arrecta, also known as Natal Indigo or Java Indigo.