And good work takes time!
Last year I was approached by zero waste bar, Native, to create a series of prints and patterns on fabric for their new aprons. They were creating a new menu and thought it would be opportune to tie it in with a new look that was upcycled too. Mind you, I had some lovely Egyptian cotton sheets from a 5 star hotel that needed some upcycling as well. I was super excited to be working with Native because they had the same sustainable philosophy as me - use what you need and close the loop! They were using natural and, where possible, foraged ingredients, and composting their waste. It's really exciting to see their Instagram posts where they post their daily waste - which sometimes can fit one a small kitchen scale!!
Native passed me their ingredients from their garden and food waste and I got working. There were things like blue pea, borage and even tarragon. It took a while for me to get the hang of it but I managed to have the plants imprinted with the hapazome technique onto the mango leaf dyed fabric. And soon, I had this golden yellow with prints on. The final touch was the free motion embroidery.
I hope you can see the embroidered details. The fabric was less absorbent than expected and so I ended up with prints that were not so defined. I think it was because the count of the fabric was higher and more fine than a handkerchief (which is what I normally dealt with in hapazome workshops). Nevertheless, we were both happy with the outcome, and I was particularly pleased with the embroidered tarragon flowers.
Fun fact - tarragon is used in cooking steak and gives off this nice licorice like aroma! Native uses them in their cocktails!
And here's the final outcome!
I'm also happy to say that the colours of the hapazome are still there!
Do you like them? I love how the blue base material brings out the yellow of the mango leaf dyed fabric. Let know in the comments!
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