Our new set of prayer flags are dyed with plants from California. We got some old white curtains and dyed them with plants we found. We have dyed with toyon leaves we foraged from Franklin Canyon and which make the fabric a lovely light green color. We have also dyed with madder root which dyes a rich pink and palm tree husks which dye a soft brown. We added balls of thread to our dye baths with which Alex has been embroidering the flags.
The use of the palm tree husks was an experiment we were slightly unsure of but which has really amazed us. After a few windy days, we saw a lot of loose palm tree husks strewn all over the ground. Alex had never dyed with palm before but wondered if it would work. It produced a lovely brown hue which looks beautiful against the pink madder root embroidery. Alex has also been experimenting with wrapping pieces of fabric around wine corks before adding them to the dye baths so they leave the clean white middle within which she is doing to embroider.
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| Preparing toyon leaves for a dye bath |
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| Prayer flags dyed with toyon and embroidered with madder root thread |
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| A collection of toyon and madder root prayer flags |
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Prayer flags dyed with palm husks and embroidered with madder root (top)
Indigo string of prayer flags (bottom) |
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| Alex's experiment of wrapping fabric around wine corks to leave an white middle on the madder root flags |
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