Iron as an Adjunct

My husband had planted a black walnut tree in the yard sometime ago and it finally got big enough that I could take some leaves to see what happens. I had some seen some really great results on the web, but had never had much luck. 

I thought about using an adjunct, which means a mordant you apply during or after the dye or printing process. It affects what you have already done.

I started with an alum treated scarf. I also added some contorted filbert leaves to the roll as I didn't think I had tried them with an alum mordant. As you can see the result was a really zingy yellow.

Flibert leaves

Black walnut

The shapes of the leaves came out pretty well but the prints weren't terribly detailed. I have had good luck with soaking material like this in either the iron pot or a pan of rusted water. Since I hadn't worked with rusted water much this year, I decided to do that. To make rusted water put a few rusty objects in a quart jar. Add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar and fill the jar with water. Put the lid on and let it set for about a week or so. When the water is orange it is ready to use. For a 14"x 72" scarf you will add about a quarter cup of the rusted water to about a half gallon of water in a neutral pot (enamel or stainless steel). I add a splash of vinegar to this. Heat the water up to a simmer and shut off the heat. Let it cool off to lukewarm. Wet the scarf out and put it in the pan of rusted water. 

I like my little blue enamel pot for projects like this

Then keep an eye on it. Most of the time it will start to turn green right away. It will continue to darken with time. Depending on the plants you used to print with sometimes it will turn them black. They end up looking like somebody with a lot more drawing skills than I have sketched them on the fabric. Keep stirring it around and rearranging it to help even out the color change. I left mine to soak overnight, chancing that it would become really murky, but sometimes you just need to find out what will happen. Remember that wet fabric appears darker than dry fabric and the rule of thumb is that when dry the fabric will appear to be two shades lighter than it is when wet. Remove it when you think it is going to be dark enough.

Filbert

Black Walnut

As you can see it turned charcoal and green. The background is more green that it appears in the image-kind of a light sage. I really liked the effect much more than just the yellow. While it was a really pretty color, the prints have more detail and depth after the rust bath.