We collaborated with our friend Daughters of the Red Sunset to bring you these incredible limited edition tote bags. Each bag is unique, having been hand printed using wildflowers and herbs from Maria's garden. The tote itself is a sturdy cotton canvas 22" with a large outer pocket and zippered inner pocket. This bag is perfect for toting all of your summer knitting projects, or a day at the beach.
A few words about the printing process:
The process of ecoprinting is one of magical alchemy. An image of a flower or leaf is transferred to fabric, sometimes with all of the details of a petal’s curves and edges or a leaf’s veins, sometimes with the flowing movement of a watercolor painting, and often the results are not the color that one might expect. My process for these sturdy cotton bags begins with a full day in a soy milk bath, in and out multiple times, soaking up the protein that will help the plant colors bond brightly to the fabric. After a 2-week curing period, the bags are mordanted with oak gall tannins, followed by aluminum acetate. It is a long process, but assures the best results. Once the bags are ready, flowers and leaves from my gardens are harvested to decorate the bags. Flowers such as coreopsis, cosmos, chamomile, and scabiosa, and leaves like maple, smoke bush, redbud, and vitex are placed on the bags, wrapped, and bound tightly before they are steamed in a hot pot. The pressure, heat, and water encourage the plants to release their colors into the fabric. Each time I unbundle a bag I am gifted with a unique scene created by the plants. The pictures draw me in like an I Spy puzzle.
Care: Bags can be washed and dried in a machine, with a gentle, non-whitening detergent.