Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Category: Seasons & Cycles

It’s Eco-Dyeing Time!

I recently dusted off my eco-dyeing pots after a long winter break. I was starting to wonder if my eco-dye phase had come to an end. It turns out I was still into eco-dyeing, the desire had just been hibernating during the cold months. I stopped dyeing over winter because the boiling pots caused lots of steam in my kitchen and the condensation ran down the walls and dripped off the ceiling.

The return to eco-dyeing may have been sparked by the handsome pot you can see in the pictures. I was so chuffed to buy it the CERES Maker's & Flea Market. It was an absolute bargain, is made of aluminium and has three levels. The base can boil bundles and then there are two trays on top for steaming! I was so excited because up to now I have only ever boiled my bundles, never steamed them. There are so many exciting new eco-dyeing possibilities brought about by this pot coming into my life 🙂

I had so much fun going through my paper bags filled with dried leaves and finding my rusty metal collection (sadly lots of my rusty bits have disappeared during workshops. Not everyone realises how valuable they are!). My friend Jacqui of Beautiful Wasteland Create also gave me some beautiful merino offcuts. The new aluminium pot combined with the fabric were just the motivation I needed to get back into eco-dyeing.

It was wonderful to know eco-dyeing is still a passion although perhaps not quite the obsession it once was!

October 18, 2018
It’s Eco-Dyeing Time!

I recently dusted off my eco-dyeing pots after a long winter break. I was starting to wonder if my eco-dye phase had come to an end. It turns out I was still into eco-dyeing, the desire had just been hibernating during the cold months. I stopped dyeing over winter because the boiling pots caused lots of steam in my kitchen and the condensation ran down the walls and dripped off the ceiling.

The return to eco-dyeing may have been sparked by the handsome pot you can see in the pictures. I was so chuffed to buy it the CERES Maker's & Flea Market. It was an absolute bargain, is made of aluminium and has three levels. The base can boil bundles and then there are two trays on top for steaming! I was so excited because up to now I have only ever boiled my bundles, never steamed them. There are so many exciting new eco-dyeing possibilities brought about by this pot coming into my life 🙂

I had so much fun going through my paper bags filled with dried leaves and finding my rusty metal collection (sadly lots of my rusty bits have disappeared during workshops. Not everyone realises how valuable they are!). My friend Jacqui of Beautiful Wasteland Create also gave me some beautiful merino offcuts. The new aluminium pot combined with the fabric were just the motivation I needed to get back into eco-dyeing.

It was wonderful to know eco-dyeing is still a passion although perhaps not quite the obsession it once was!

October 18, 2018
Christmas Craft

I love this time of year. The weather is getting warmer, there's lots of fun things to do and Christmas gifts to make. All the cafes and restaurants that were empty over winter are overflowing till late in the evening as everyone takes advantage of the long, balmy nights. There's most definitely a festive feeling in the air.

As well as getting out and about, I've been spending time in the kitchen whipping up Christmas treats to share with our teachers, family and friends. It's so lovely to give the gift of thoughtful, handmade presents that can be eaten and the jars then reused. No useless plastic crap that ends up in landfill around here!

Our honey macadamias are a firm holiday favourite with one neighbour hiding them from her husband so that she can eat the whole jar! This year we've also added homemade dukkah and tamari seeds to our goodies to give away. We made the dukkah largely by hand and my oldest girl loved pounding the hazelnuts in the mortar and pestle. She was really into doing it all my hand. She's my girl!

I hope you're finding some time to do some Christmas making and baking at this hectic time of year. It's so good for the soul!

December 7, 2017
Christmas Craft

I love this time of year. The weather is getting warmer, there's lots of fun things to do and Christmas gifts to make. All the cafes and restaurants that were empty over winter are overflowing till late in the evening as everyone takes advantage of the long, balmy nights. There's most definitely a festive feeling in the air.

As well as getting out and about, I've been spending time in the kitchen whipping up Christmas treats to share with our teachers, family and friends. It's so lovely to give the gift of thoughtful, handmade presents that can be eaten and the jars then reused. No useless plastic crap that ends up in landfill around here!

Our honey macadamias are a firm holiday favourite with one neighbour hiding them from her husband so that she can eat the whole jar! This year we've also added homemade dukkah and tamari seeds to our goodies to give away. We made the dukkah largely by hand and my oldest girl loved pounding the hazelnuts in the mortar and pestle. She was really into doing it all my hand. She's my girl!

I hope you're finding some time to do some Christmas making and baking at this hectic time of year. It's so good for the soul!

December 7, 2017
Natural Dyeing With Acacia

I'm deep in the middle of a natural dyeing craze. It's an obsession that has swept in and taken me over. Combining foraging in nature with dyeing wool in a rainbow of colours brings me so much joy. My latest dyeing adventure saw me gathering wattle blossoms which are so abundant right now. It's lovely to be using a native plant that's in season. It makes me happy in soooo many different ways and deepens my connection to the seasons and nature.

I wonder if it's the plants whispering to me as they bloom into life with spring. "Look at me! I'm so colourful and smell amazing." There's an incredible idea I heard from Speedy at my very first Village Continuum. Speedy is a real renaissance man and can turn his hand to just about anything from blacksmithing to cheese making and mushroom growing. He told me about Ferdinand von Mueller, Government Botanist and an early director of the Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens who in 1858 introduced blackberries to Australia. Speedy suggested it was the blackberry plant itself that spoke to von Mueller and told him to bring it to the new country. This idea that plants can speak to us was a new one to me although I've since learnt many indigenous cultures share this philosophy. The idea quite literally blew my mind. Plants can communicate with us? Incredible!

Acacia Blossom Dyeing

2 cups acacia blossoms

1 litre water

Large stainless steel saucepan

Large metal bowl

Add the flowers and water to the saucepan.

Bring them to boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Take off the heat and let the mixture cool down to warmish.

Strain the liquid into the bowl using the lid to stop the flowers going in.

Wet the wool and wring out the excess.

Add the wet wool to the dye bowl and soak overnight. The longer you soak, the stronger your colour. I let mine soak for 3 days, turning it every now and then.

Iron Additive

50g wool

5 iron capsules

4 tsp water

Rinse the wool in warmish water until the water runs clear.

In a small bowl mix the iron capsules and water to form a liquid. I went a blue/black colour straight away.

Drizzle the liquid over the wool.

Let sit for a couple of hours and then rinse off the iron and hang your wool to dry.

COMMENTS: I wasn't a huge fan of the effects of the iron additive. I'm sitting with it as it took a while for the oxalis/bicarb combo to grow on me. The spots where I drizzled it turned a blue/black and when I rinsed the lovely mellow acacia yellow, it turned a greyish colour. It's possible I added too many iron capsules – I think that one capsule and a couple of tablespoons of water would have been plenty. Next time I'd just use acacia or possibly experiment with a bicarb additive if I'm feeling brave!

NOTE: never use your kitchen pots or utensils when you're doing natural dyeing, always use a separate set. Op shops are great places for old pots, bowls, spoons etc.

August 24, 2017
Happy Winter Solstice!

It's hard to believe it's already the winter solstice again. It seems far too soon to be celebrating the longest night and shortest day. Especially with the gorgeous sunny weather we have been having recently. For me the solstice marks the beginning of winter and the dive headlong into the cold of July and August.

In the past I've dreaded the coming of winter and the fading of the light. I love the feeling of sun on my face and cloudy winter days leave me moody and downhearted. But I've recently realised winter also is the time when I am at my most creative. It's when I put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) to share my thoughts and ideas. It's also the time when I crave making things with my hands and always have a project on the go. At the moment it's finishing my arm warmers with a crochet beanie waiting in the wings. So this year I am embracing the positive aspects of the season and getting outdoors as much as possible in the times when I'm not making or writing.

Each year we celebrate the solstice with lots of warm, hearty and filling dishes. These recipes tend to be made just for the solstice so they are pretty special and eagerly looked forward to. My favourites are the tropical rice pudding and homemade hot chocolate. I also make pumpkin soup for the rest of the family and this year we also had homemade rye soda bread.

Solstice this year was extra special as we had the whole family in the kitchen together making food for our celebration. The girls loved making the bread and pudding. Licking the spoon never gets old! Gareth chopped up the onions and pumpkin for the soup. It was lovely to be able to include him in all our celebrations. He usually comes home after work, just in time for pudding.

We rug up warmly after dinner and take our homemade candle lanterns for a walk around the block, singing our solstice song as we go. Although I feel this tradition may not last for very much longer as even Phoebe who is now seven is starting to make noises about it being stupid (it's the most popular adjective around here and is used for just about, well, everything.)

Happy winter solstice friends!

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June 22, 2017
My Pre Mordanting Cotton Misadventure

Earlier in the year I was really terrified of pre mordanting my cotton. But now I'm in a more experimenting, reckless kind of mood. I'm not as attached to the outcome and I'm very excited by the idea of playing with the process to see what happens next.

It's hard to pinpoint what exactly has changed but I know that I feel more creative and confident now. Due in part to the weather; now is most definitely my making season! And perhaps in part to experience – because I am making so many different things at the moment and writing about them, each has less weight. When I am making one item, it becomes huge and everything must be perfect. It's the object that I am pouring all my creative energy into and it becomes so precious because it's where I have poured all my love and hope and dreams (a bit like a never-ending circle). It's like all my happiness is tied up with this one project and if it fails, I collapse.

On the other hand, when I have lots on the go I happily move from project to project and find it easier to take mistakes in my stride, pausing long enough to unravel them. I think I have hit the sweet spot of having just enough to do to be happy. Not too much that I get overwhelmed and not so little that I'm bored and make trouble!

When you're dyeing cotton, you need to pre mordant it first so the cotton fibres will take up the colours from the plant dyes. Animal fibres like wool and silk readily take up plant dyes and don't need to be pre mordanted. Apparently, the trick with cotton is to soak it in an alkaline solution (such as ash water) and then dry it in the sun. Next you soak the cotton in a protein solution (such as soy milk) and then dry it in the sun. The more times you do ash / soy mordanting process the better. You can get some more details of the process in India Flint's book, Eco Colour: Botanical Dyes For Beautiful Textiles but she is frustratingly vague about the details and leaves a lot to experimentation which can be exciting or terrifying depending on your mood!

To get the best dye results you need to let the fabric cure after mordanting. Doing so will give more intense colours and longer lasting dyes. This can mean waiting 1 -2 years before dyeing your fabric! I have to say I'm too impatient too wait that long!

I was feeling so reckless about the process that I threw some soy milk into a bucket, added water and scarves and then went back and read over my notes. To find that you're supposed to do the ash water and then the soy milk. Oops! Time to give the scarves a quick wash before starting again…

Things I was curious about: Do you need to wet the cotton before mordanting? I did. How long do I leave the cotton in the mordant? I went for 5 days. Do I rinse the cotton after pre mordanting and before drying? Reading India's book I don't think so. Do I then need to wet the cotton before the next mordant step? No idea! Do you need the cotton to cure in between each of the mordanting steps (ash water and soy milk) or do you just do it lots of times (mordant, dry, repeat) and then rest for a year or two?

Next step: Dyeing the scarves!

June 2, 2017
Olive Picking

I'm getting much better at really looking at the trees around me and noticing what they are. Not so long ago, it was all just a wall of green that was a background to wherever I was going. I can now confidently identify wattles (the sap is edible), she oaks (great for basket weaving), japanese maples (lovely shapes for eco-dyeing) and olives tress (need I say more?). I adore olives. They are my all-time favourite snack. So many varieties, so many ways of preserving. And so tasty! We eat a ridiculous amount of shop bought olives each week in this family. We've all got our favourites. For me and Miss Seven it's currently sicilian olives marinated in lemon and garlic. The lovely G scoffs the chilli olives along with Miss Eleven who's also partial to the feta stuffed ones. Of course we can't live without kalamata olives either, they go into my chicken casserole or a tuna nicoise salad.

I'm so excited that olive season is finally here again and I can have another go at curing olives. This time, hopefully with more success! There's quite a few places around Melbourne where you can find olive trees growing on nature strips. I went to a wilder place to pick my olives. As I sank deep into the rhythm of picking olives from the tree, thoughts flittered through my mind. I thought with wonder and gratitude of all the people who do this every day so that I can eat olives whenever I want to. I wondered at how long it takes to carefully pick olives from the tree so that they don't bruise. I can hurry but I'll damage my crop. A lesson in slow and steady. My focus narrows and becomes razor sharp. Now it's just the sun on my face, me and the tree. I get really good at singling out the green olives without blemishes. It becomes a game, how many do I still need to pick to fill my jar?

There's magic to be found in foraging. There's the excitement of discovering trees bearing fruit. A growing awareness of the plants around me. A connection to the season and what is ripe and ready for picking. You can't hurry a tree along, it's gonna be ready when it's ready. What a great teacher of patience and waiting until the time is just right! Invariably there's a lot of tasting before things are ripe but that's all part of the learning too. Who knew that green mulberries warmed by the sun are tasty when eaten right off the tree? My girls know! Discovery, tasting and the joy of harvesting. And all the while we are getting our hands dirty, feet planted firmly on the earth.

What are you foraging?

May 22, 2017
Nature’s Abundance

It's easy for me to forget where my food comes from. I live in an inner city flat and buy all my fresh fruit and veg at a local market. Intellectually I know that it all grows on trees or in the ground and is harvested by farmers. Practically I am a world away from harvesting my own food. Or so I thought. It turns out that growing all around me in the parks of Melbourne is an amazing array of fresh fruit ripe for the picking. How gorgeous are the lilly pillys and feijoa in the above photo? They were foraged by a friend along with carob from local trees. I had no idea that feijoas and carob grew in Melbourne or that anyone had planted them.

Seeing the gorgeous colours of the foraged fruit was a lovely reminder of the abundance that surrounds me all the time. Nature is so generous with her colourful and delicious bounty. She shares with everyone willing to spend some time getting to know the plants that surround them. With consumerism rampant it's so easy to get caught up in the scarcity myth. It's the myth that says there's not enough for everyone. The one that says we need to buy more stuff. The one that tells us happiness can be bought with the latest or greatest thing. It's too easy to be distanced from the natural world of growing things and yet I find that the more time I spend in nature, the happier I am.

It's funny how you can forget things. Until I saw the fruit, I'd forgotten my own foraging adventures on nature strips and in parks around my home. In the past I've gathered olives, peppercorns, passionfruit, plums and figs. I'm sure there is so much more to discover. Last year I had a turn at pickling the olives foraged from a tree near my girls' piano teacher's house. I was using the soak and rinse every day method and on about day 11 of 14 I forgot and my olives ending up slimy and off. This year I'm having another shot at curing my olives. I'm going to try the brine and salt methods found here this time. I'll let you know how I go.

May 15, 2017
Craft Explosion

There's been a craft explosion at my place. Beeswax candle dipping, leather pouch sewing, weed foraging, salve making, needle felting and whittling. And that's just the last couple of weeks!

This time of year is the start of the making season for me. It's the time of year when the weather is drawing me indoors and telling me to slow down. My desk calls me to sit down and make. At the same time, my brain fires and fizzes with creativity and new ideas. I get the urge to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard!) and share my thoughts and experiences. My hands itch to hold something and create.

I want to feel raw materials in my hands and turn them into something new. I want to sink into the process of making. To sift through the clatter and chatter and get to the part where I'm immersed in the process. To that place where the repetitive nature of craft feels like home and soothes my soul.

True to form, I'm doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that and I love it. I admire people who can pick one craft and master it but it's just not me. There's so many cool things to make, crafts to learn and tools to buy. Why stick with one?

May 4, 2017