The other day, we unwrapped some of our compost-dyed silk hankie "experiments". These are SO fun. Basically, you use fabric (silk, in this case), treat it with a mordant (I've used copper, iron, or alum), sprinkle on a little salt, add some liquid (vinegar, wine, etc...) and then add "stuff" to it to give it color. The "stuff", in this case, being natural dyestuffs - things like onion skins, cabbage, tea, flowers, berries - whatever. You can even get great results with copper pennies or brillo pads, and I"m going to be playing with rusty stuff next. Anyway, you get your hankie all wadded up with this stuff. Then you let it compost/rot/ferment/cure for a few weeks. And if you're lucky, it makes cool designs on the fabric! The hard part is waiting a few weeks. It's best if you just do some, then totally forget about them.

For this latest batch, we used a variety of things. Elderberries, onion skins, sage leaves...I honestly don't remember what! The nice thing about these is, they are always "fixable". Some turn out great the first time. But, if you don't like the color, or the texture, you can just do it again! 2 of these I've washed and ironed, and will be using to wrap small xmas presents. 2 more have been deemed "unfinished" - i'll be checking out my stash of dyeable items (I've got onion skins, black walnut hulls, teabags, and cranberries on hand for sure...) and re-dyeing 2 of these, plus probably starting a few more.