eco printing Archives - Jane Mercer Felt Artist

This week in my studio: Ecoprinting spirals

I have been ecoprinting on felt using logwood with geranium and lupin leaves to create a spiral pattern. This piece is planned to be exhibited at an exhibition by York Textile Artists called In Spiral. The felt contains lots of threads and silk that has been marked with Sumi ink. Using logwood and alchemilla leaves I ecoprinted a spiral on some silk noil. I just love the circular discharges from the cut stems. I am going to stitch on both pieces, but as yet haven't decided how to stitch on my silk piece or even what colour to use. Any ideas? I hope to start stitching soon.

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12/06/2022

art exhibition / Eco Dyeing / eco printing / Natural dyeing / Textile art / Wet felting / Yorkshire

Exciting November Exhibition with York Textile artists

It's been a while since I posted here. What have I been doing? Catching up with friends and family and spending lots of time in Scotland. Plus of course some felting, eco printing, dyeing and stitching. I also applied to and was accepted by York Textile artists. I am delighted to be taking part in their winter exhibition. The exhibition will take place at York Cemetery Chapel on the 13th and 14th of November from 10am to 4pm. Holidays in Scotland So here is the beautiful Sango Sands beach in Scotland. I watched seals from the cliffs above these sands. In Scotland you know the rain will never be far away. And all around beautiful scenery just one example of some inspiring lichens. Work in progress Following the eco printing of a scarf using peony, alchemilla, jack by the hedge and eucalyptus leaves, I have stitched the resultant beautiful iron blanket with…

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27/10/2021

Eco Dyeing / eco printing / Fabric / Yorkshire

Can taking an online course improve my ecoprints?

In December 2020 I registered for an online course in the hope of improving my ecoprints. The course was Foundation of ecoprinting and was run by Caroline Nixon. The course started in early January. I did not get very far with the course because I broke my elbow. That is what you get for cycling when it's icy. I was then unable to wring out fabric or wrap bundles. Caroline kindly let me join the April course instead. Luckily my elbow is fully recovered and I could participate in the April course. Good timing as well as many of the plants in my garden were coming into leaf. Here is one of my first ecoprints. The fabric is a hemp silk blend and has a slight texture and lovely drape. Certainly, this is not the best ecoprint in the world but it tells me loads. I have printed with raspberry, aquilegia, alchemilla,…

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25/04/2021

Eco Dyeing / eco printing / Fabric / Mordant / Natural dyeing / Textile art

It’s time to organise my white fabric stash

Both natural dyeing and eco printing require white fabric and I have been building a disorganised stash. I bought a lot of old tablecloths from the local charity shop during 2019 and early 2020 and mordanted most of it. I even have a stash inventory from about a year ago. Meaningless really as I have not updated it. I stored my stash in numerous plastic blags and in an old blanket chest I got from my mother. Last year in the first lockdown I sewed scrubs for the local hospital and I volunteered to take all the white sheeting we were given, as it wasn’t suitable for making scrubs. This has added to the significantly to the stash. And of course, I have bought lengths of fabric to supplement the recycled material. I have kept my small quantity of silk fabric separate from the rest, and for now, I am not sorting…

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28/02/2021

Eco Dyeing / eco printing / Fabric / garments / machine stitching / Natural dyeing / sewing

My challenge: Sewing garments with ecoprinted fabric.

I have sewn garments for years but only made garments with eco-printed fabrics for about a year. Eco printed fabric gives me a new challenge: the width of the fabric. I printed eco-fabric that was 42cm wide. Garments normally use 115cm wide fabric. 42cm was limited by my longest pole and the length of my fish kettle. With my new larger fish kettle this has gone up to about 54cm. I looked for interesting garment patterns that could be accommodated by this restriction. I choose a Marcy Tilton jacket pattern My fabric was an old linen table cloth. I cut out the pattern pieces before printing to get round the width limitations. Then I printed the pieces individually using walnut, rose, silverweed and Cornus leaves, and a tannin blanket. Work in progress. Finished jacket The trouser pattern was made up of narrow pieces. I simply sewed my fabric pieces together to get…

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14/02/2021

PRINT

Eco Dyeing / eco printing / Textile art

How I was seduced by Instagram

I was introduced to Instagram during a remote Scottish textile retreat. I was seduced by its quickness and flexibility and have been using it instead of writing this blog. Sorry.! How did this happen? In November I went to a workshop with India Flint on the Ardtornish Estate. The Ardtornish Estate is a wonderful, beautiful and remote location, as I hope the photos below show. The workshop was fantastic. We stitched, drew, collected leaves, wrote poetry and eco printed. We did more, we explored the countryside and brought it into our work. Here are some of the pieces I made. Of course, I also chatted to all the other workshop participants. That was when I heard that most of my fellow textile artists, were big fans of Instagram. Why I asked? Overwhelmingly the answer was that it was easy and so much more friendly than other social media options. So…

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17/01/2019

Eco Dyeing / eco printing / Natural dyeing / Printing

Why I enjoy the excitement of Eco Printing

Eco printing is fun, exciting and for me a good change from natural dyeing and felting. Here in the UK now is the ideal time for eco printing. The flowers are blooming and the sap is rising as the spring turns in summer. I had a great experience with a workshop in 2016 with the wonderfully generous Fabienne Dorsman-Rey at Art Van Go . This year I have refreshed some of my Eco printing knowledge as I was lucky enough to win a free workshop with Kathy Hays. Their Eco Printing methods are not the same but are very complimentary and I would recommend them both. Looking back a year ago I am delighted with this eco printed and slow stitched cloth I made during and after Fabienne's workshop. I also incorporate Eco printed silk into felt pieces. Below you can see where I used the almost shibori dyed edge of…

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09/07/2017