Did you know that you can make your own fabric printing inks with things you’ll find in the nature?
Sloe or blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) is great for DIY printmaking ink. You can use the berries as well as the bark
Preparing The Fabric
I used cotton fabric for the print samples. You can also use silk, but the blues will be more purple on silk. Prewash and iron your fabrics before printing. I didn’t use mordant – except for the iron tannin print – because I wanted to show you the natural print colors.
Natural Ink Colors
Blue: red cabbage, bilberries, sloe berries (without ironing)
Teal: red cabbage + baking soda (turns grey after some month)
Brown: onion skins, walnut hulls, sloe berries (with ironing), blackthorn bark, horse chestnut leaves
Grey: bilberries (ironed before washing)
Dark brown or black: iron + tannin