Dyeing :: Sakura

Inspired by the season, I pulled out the sakura leaves I gathered back in autumn to dye with them last week.  Because my current collection is rather meager and not very attractive-- thanks to a noticeable caterpillar infestation on the local trees and uncooperative weather at the key time-- the photo above is from the previous year when the conditions were much more favorable.  Luckily, I don't need much for the amounts with which I work these days-- for this session, I just used a handful.

With sakura leaves, it's best to let the dye bath rest for several days after extracting the dye if you want to increase the redness of the resulting color.  It's a tip I read in one of my dye books and confirmed through my experiments last year.  Here's my dye bath directly after the extraction--

And three days later--

You can see that the difference is clearly visible.  My results, this time--

I did three batches of embroidery floss: the bottom skein went in first, the middle skein with an one hour lag.  The top skein was dyed separately in the exhaust bath.  While it's the lightest shade, the color seems to have most clarity and 'pinkness' to the peach so it's my favorite.  And I think these colors would make lovely skin tones--

Still, it can be hard to present the color as it really is, as it's inevitably affected by the color of the background somewhat.  So here they are on a white ground to provide a better idea--

Truth be told, I was a little disappointed at first by their seeming dullness compared to my results on wool and wool/silk from last year; the latter two had a glowing softness & warmth that the cotton floss seems to lack.  Such a difference the choice of fibers can make, I thought.  For comparison--

40% silk/ 60% wool yarn  (2009)

polwarth wool (2009)

Yet, when I placed the sakura-dyed floss next to all the other colors, it seemed to shine and come to life--

All the other colors seemed to take on more life too, exhibiting a vibrance that had been hidden when standing alone.  From top to bottom: marigold, alder, pomegranate, sakura, onion skin (alum), onion skin (iron), alder (iron).

Those were the earth tones.  For the record, here are the brights--

It's almost hard to believe that they were naturally dyed, don't you think?  From top to bottom: gardenia, safflower, harlequin glorybower.

And here's the entire collection to date--

I'm really, very happy with the range so far.  And in looking at this, I think I know what I'd like to do next...

Comments

[meg]

I saw this on twitter and thought of you.
ichiro50 http://bit.ly/9z3Tqp ←Rare Home Dyeing Technique Sample Book! この本、おもしろいです。これによれば、戦前は、着物生地の再利用に自分で絞り染めなどをするのが流行っていたようで（場合によっては友禅も！）そのノウハウ本です

[Eva]

Fantastic collection! My favourite are the neutrals together with the sakura. You're right, they make each other sing.

[amanda]

I am so impressed with your colours! Now I'm wondering what you're going to do next. :)

[Marijke]

A lovely variety of colours, beautifully presented. The colours I'd choose for myself to wear are Alder (both light and dark) and the bright blue. I am going to look up what a harlequin glorybower is right now.

[itto]

youe colours are stunning, especially the bright ones!!! I am really impressed. I recently dyed with iris and got a nice blueish result.
xxx