I did three long sleeve 100% cotton T-shirts. The lightest one is the one I did with protein and soda ash so I would have something to compare to. The next darkest one is the one that the alum was applied first and then the acorn "juice", the darkest one is the one that had the acorn mordant first and then an exposure to alum. I have to say, that dark one is a really pretty mauve. It does have some weird spots you can't see in the picture, they will become part of the eco print. Why I keep getting this pink, I am not sure. It may be our water quality here, or it could just be that I am too lazy to peel the acorns and the shells have some effect. At any rate, it is a pretty color when you can get it with out the funky brown spots.
The next thing I did I probably should not have done just for the sake of the experiment, but I happen to love the interplay of rust with various plants and so I laid out the shirts and let them set with some rusty nails on them over a couple of days.
I steamed them the other day, using my "go-to" leaves, the ones I use when I want a guaranteed print, no matter what other crazy thing I am doing. It is mostly a mixed bag of maple leaves and stuff from the box I marked "miscellaneous" which are from a lot of little scruffy trees that grow out by the river. I also used iris petals from the stash in the freezer. Tempting as it was to use all different stuff on all three shirts, I decided I would learn more if I just used all the same leaves and could compare them from one mordant to the next.
And now, we wait. I left them in plastic bags for several days to keep them wet, now I am leaving them out to dry.
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