Eco-Print Fabric

As I delved deeper into my love and appreciation for the materials that I use in my craft, I deeply desired the tones and living color that natural pigments produced. One summer day in 2025, my children and I had been working through the book "The Organic Artist for Kids" by Nick Neddo, which set us off on an invigorating journey of creating our own art supplies. I had watched enough slow stitching and natural dye videos, that my curiosity overtook me and I began wrapping small scraps of tea soaked fabric around rusty metal objects my husband had stashed away for such future endeavors- an old screwdriver, and a crow bar. Hidden in wait, safe from curious hands behind our grill, they dried while I busied myself, the excitement in the back of my mind to see what might become of them. I was astonished to unwrap the little pieces of cloth that had been covered in beautiful purple repeating patterns, and areas of bright amber speckles, and only a little bit of the orange discoloration that I would have expected from rust. Despite the slightly uncouth nature of the experiment- the exposures of which most would be deterred by- the reaction on the fabric, the creation of a purple, almost the opposite color, that was created, hidden, unlocked in the interaction, absolutely fascinated me! The patterns reminiscent of moth wings, the stripes like tie dye. My head filled with dreams of journals with these moth wing ties, and rice bags, scrappy, stamped with fishies and trees with iron dyed gauze that hung off like fishnets. Now, after all the momentum and discovery from my art journey with my children, the mountain of making rust water to start eco-printing was a fun hill that I wanted to run up and tumble down and I got started doing something that I had been interested in for years!

When I decided I wanted to start dyeing fabric to sew and sell in my shop, I switched to using a powdered ferrous sulphate to ensure the purity of the mordant. I am comfortable working with a metal that is biocompatible for me, as the one being exposed to it in the process, and likewise it is safe for the environment when the spent mordant solution eventually needs to be discarded.
 
In natural dyeing, iron is known to generally have a darkening, or saddening effect on the dyestuffs and tannins in many plants.  I find it to be quite charming and provides a great depth of color that inspires a lot of the pieces I have made with them. The iron creates many purple and pink hues with the plants in my area. I have also been able to get olive tones, yellows, and oranges (from onion skins!)

Every bundle and every batch come out differently! Working with nature can be unpredictable at times, and not all plants will produce a dye. I have definitely made some ugly stuff that even I find slightly distasteful. But this is all part and parcel of the creative process, exploration and finding the voice of our inner artist, which absolutely sings and jumps for joy when the products of our work and this dance with nature make something so pleasing to the senses. There is room for experimentation in every stage of the process. I find it a joy to introduce this element into my work, and to have fabric which is not only inspired by the ultimate muse of the natural world, but it itself is infused within the fabric. A fabric isn't made when I get it in my hands, nor is it even made when it is woven. This process really illuminates through our experience, how these things begin when the seed took root, when the leaf sprouts from a bud, warmed by the sun, and fed by the rain. I couldn't create it any other way, and it connects me intimately to all the elements of the earth.

I truly never know what I am going to get when I wrap up a bundle, and there's nothing more exciting than waiting and tending to a bundle, wondering what nature will make of it as it steams or boils. When I do lay eyes on the fabric, the colors and the shapes, novel in their presence and arrangements take my mind to all kinds of places. These are the places I explore in my work.

When I began eco-printing, and sewing with my fabric I felt like I was finally using the fabric of my dreams. I had always loved seeing the rustic, imperfect, and beautiful deep and earthy tones that were produced with natural dyeing. To actually have access to them myself by my own hand unleashed me into a very familiar realm which creation has always opened up for me. When I delved into the fabric with my eyes, even the most subtle of prints, prints others might even consider poor quality pulled me in. I love the dreamy shapes and silhouettes that are created by sometimes even the most spontaneous of arrangements. From the time of a child I always had remarked my favorite colors as being pink and purple. I find it beautiful and so serendipitous that the colors I am able to produce with my chosen mordant are mainly these colors which have drawn me in from the time of a child. When I began responding to these shapes and colors in my work (or should I call it play) I felt like my dreams, everything I hold dear but perhaps could not communicate were being born before my eyes. Everything Jujibelle has been and is becoming for me has served to develop, to continuously and incrementally unfold in greater sophistication, this language that is carried through play and spontaneity- this 'childishness' that is often undermined as not containing the sophistication required to offer real solutions for the adult world, and the complexity of issues we face as a civilization. While I don't think eco-printing fabric has the ability to do just that, or attack the world with solutions, I believe it is this relationship with nature, with our creativity, that heals something from the inside out. Like a more complete way of existing that nullifies the very maladies that may have lead to larger dysfunction in our bodies, and in our world. Eco-printing for me was like the heart that started beating in Jujibelle, a living example of all the layers that I filtered myself and my creations through falling away to allow the timeless wisdom that my children had not forgotten permeate my world.

If you want to know when I am cooking up some new eco-prints, and be a part of the excitement that goes on over here, consider subscribing to my email list, or follow me on Instagram @jujibelle_giftsofearth