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Hapa-zome - beating colour into cloth |
It is a simple exercise of obtaining fresh plant material and literally 'beating' the colour into the cloth with a small hammer or rubber mallet. With the young people home on school holidays, we just had to give it a try!
After rummaging through the wardrobes, we came up trumps with a 100% cotton, plain white t-shirt. This was pre-soaked overnight in a mordant of homemade yoghurt and water to hopefully assist the adhering of the colours on the cotton. The next day, the t-shirt was rinsed and dried and then the fun began...
Some fresh plant material was gathered from the garden..
...and with nothing more to it, 9yo got to work. What fun it is to bash plants onto a t-shirt!
And how noisy! We used a solid wooden chopping block to protect the table from the hammer, and a piece of paper over the more delicate flowers to prevent them from being reduced to a mushy pulp. The t-shirt was then allowed to dry and we have yet to iron it to set the colours. The longer the dye is left on before the first wash, the better the result. We have yet to wash the shirt, too!
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The back - plants used: silverbeet/chard, parsely, comfrey, potato leaf, pink daisy, fern leaf, rosemary spikes, alyssum, geranium petals, beetroot leaf, kale, calendula |
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The front - there is a sort of order in amongst the chaos |
Not having any more plain white t-shirts to play with, the young people soon decided it might be fun to try the same technique on paper instead...
Out came more chopping boards and hammers/meat mallets. The 'bashings' were made onto some handmade paper I found lurking in the cupboard and will make great additions to homemade cards.
I don't think we have seen the last of this top..I am tempted to embelish it in some way, perhaps with some crocheted ric-rac or beading.....
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Oh, the possibilities! |
This is fantastic. I am definitely going to give it a go with my kids too. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWow this is really cool, I love it!
ReplyDeleteI think I might have to find me a copy of this book :)
That's amazing!
ReplyDeleteThat is fantastic and so pretty!
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool! What kid doesn't like to hammer and squish things... and on to clothing as well? Brilliant.
ReplyDeleteHave fun, veggiegobbler - I'm sure the kids will!
ReplyDeleteIt's a fantastic read, Lisa :)
It's something so simple but so fun, Sonia and Debbie - I can see more of this type of thing happening from time to time....
Absolutely, Brydie! Kids+Hammers+Plants= MUCH fun!
nice work! i've been doing a bit of it over here in France
ReplyDeletewasn't carrying a hammer
so substituted 'spoon burnishing' instead
worked quite well
and quieter
but
a LOT slower!
Wonderful stuff! I love how the leaves imprinted so well onto the fabric, with so much definition!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, India! I can't imagine how busy things are for you in France. Wishing you happy, colourful and spoon-filled travels ;)
ReplyDeleteThe leaves were very pleasing, Celia. I would never have expected some of the plants to leave such precise markings...