Textile creations, pattern cutting & natural dyeing/eco-printing. http://www.mechelinastudios.co.uk In fact I love textiles.
Johanna Mechelina has launched MECHELINA studios in November 2013. I love sewing, pattern design, textile printing and dyeing/eco-printing with natural dyes. I am mostly inspired by colour, nature and light and also by culture, travel, landscapes and cities. There are so many places where inspiration can be found
My fascination with colour and beautiful creations started from early childhood. I
was found dressing up in my grandmother’s vintage clothing exploring her wardrobe as a small child. Growing up I started drawing and designing clothes on pieces of scrap paper at the age of 11. I expressed my interest in colour and nature by drawing and painting. My Caran D’Ache pencils and my father’s pastels gave me great pleasure just looking at the different shades and colours. It was not till my twenties that I started sewing my own clothes and customising vintage finds. During my time at university I bought my first sewing machine from the earnings of a part time job packing boxes in a factory. It was worth it and that machine got some heavy use! In my thirties I moved from the Netherlands to the UK, and moved to Scotland 10 years ago. I am influenced by the traditional Dutch use of strong colours and light and the perspective of wide endless skies and water. Scotland offers a different colour palette and is home to some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen. I prize myself lucky to have a foot in both countries and a sense of belonging in both places. Travel is another source of inspiration from the red earthy hues in Moroccan deserts to the blue ceramic tiles in Portugal. A journey in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in my early forties deepened my interest in the rich tradition of textiles, including rugs, embroidered suzanis wall-hangings and felting traditions. I also became aware of the devastating effect of the diversion of rivers to irrigate the cotton industry in Uzbekistan on it’s environment. This was most obvious in terms of the Aral Sea, once one of the four biggest lakes in the world, which has shrunk to a fraction of its former size and is now heavily polluted. Over the last 5 years I have done various courses in pattern drawing to enable me to produce my own designs. I am particularly attracted to Japanese examples of pattern cutting. In addition I enjoyed the chance to learn about screen-printing and the use of natural dyes. I have plans to combine these different strands in future projects. I am still learning and hope that I will always be open and curious to develop further. I draw my inspiration from everywhere; in nature, culture, cities. It is mostly patterns of colour and light wherever I am that grab my attention. Recently I have focussed on learning everything I can about natural dyes and eco-printing. This brings together my love for textiles, nature and colour. The pigments derived from plants yield rich and subtle colour, very different from the artificially produced chemical and polluting dyes. I aim to provide an ecological sound alternative, being sensitive to how plants are sourced and using only safe mordants such as alum or kitchen materials. My current projects include creating Eco-printed/Hand dyed silk scarves using natural ingredients from plants:
• A range of rich colours and shades are achieved from Madder (red, orange, dusty pink, pale apricot) logwood (purple, dark blue, grey-lilac) onion (burnt orange, yellow), nettles (silver green), black bean (blue), elderberries (mauve), walnut husks (brown gold), weld (yellow);
• I use a variety of techniques including Shibori;
• Eco print involves several dyeing and steaming stages where the print is made by rolling the plant up tightly in a bundle. It is left to cure for several days to a week;
• This gives my work a seasonal nature. For example autumn leaves found at this time of year have been printed on a madder exhaust or nettle dyed scarf;
• Only safe mordants (alum) are used to prepare the silk for dyeing, no toxic mordants are ever used. Sometimes rusty nails are added to the dye bath and these shift the colour due to the iron component;
• I am constantly experimenting with these combinations to create a varied range of patterns. Even if I wanted, no two scarves will ever be the same.
added today
A long silk scarf and blue grey silk botanical print shawl, dyed with indigo from my organic indigo vat after which I steamed and printed the scarf with peony leaves from my garden. A very small amount of my homemade iron water vinegar solution was added. This gave a beautiful
and then there is this lovely colour...
This beautiful blue lavender light weight chiffon silk scarf is hand dyed with natural dyes. The scarf has been hand dyed with logwood natural dye creating a gorgeous mid-light purple blue shade. The pigments from Logwood provide a variety of dye colours including blue, purple, grey,
I love these colours.
A stunning shibori silk scarf, this orange ruby burgundy silk shawl, naturally dyed geometric scarf is made of a good quality 8m habotai silk. This scarf has been hand dyed with plant dye from madder roots and lac. The result is a warm orange and vibrant ruby red burgundy pattern
onion skins, eucalyptus bath and indigo vat were used
Gorgeous eco printed naturally dyed Ponge 5 (light silk), a botanical print. This scarf was printed with onion skins and garden plants including broom. It was then bundled and simmered in water with onion and eucalyptus added. After this it was dipped in my organic indigo vat. The
gorgeous ruby burgundy colour added today
This dark red chiffon scarf and naturally dyed transparent scarf has been hand dyed with lac. This beautiful natural dye has resulted in an attractive burgundy red silk scarf. The naturally dyed shawl is beautiful for a treat to yourself or an eco Christmas gift for her. The
I love this mix of madder and indigo
A stunning shibori silk scarf, a salmon pink blue shawl in a stripy vertical pattern. The colours are amazing. These colours have been obtained from dyeing the scarf in a light madder dye bath . This resulted in a soft and gentle salmon pink shade. I then used a stiched shibori
More lovely colours, another new scarf
This yellow green shibori silk scarf made of ponge 5m is hand dyed with natural dyes. The naturally dyed silk material is a soft light weight ponge silk which feels super soft to the skin. The pattern is made by using a shibori/ tie dye technique This eco dyed scarf has been dyed in
I love the shades of madder! This gorgeous coloured scarf has just been added to my etsy shop
A gorgeous pink salmon brick red scarf made of a luxurious silk chiffon fabric, this pink burgundy stripe shawl has been naturally dyed with light madder and over dyed with a strong madder, using a shibori technique to achieve the stripe pattern result. This gorgeous transparent
So excited about this! There'll be so many amazing creative etsy sellers with gorgeous an unique gifts. I'll be there on Sunday bringing new Mechelina silk scarves.
🎉🎉Just two days until our Glasgow weekend market begins at The Briggait 🎉🎉
Here's the blog posts of the different daily lineups if you want to get writing your shopping lists before you pop down to see us. ❤️❤️ See you at the weekend.
Saturday lineup here >> https://www.glasgowetsyteam.co.uk/etsy-made-local-lineup-2…/
and our Sunday sellers here >> https://www.glasgowetsyteam.co.uk/etsy-made-local-lineup-2018-sunday-sellers/?fbclid=IwAR0WCWLdc03IHlC3wrCzPq_cmoKGNyoHWJMob-7a3WWpNZvoZAeqeeya_o4
Etsy Etsy Success
If you are around in Glasgow do visit this wonderful event with this Saturday and Sunday at the Briggait. Mechelina will be there on Sunday with plant dyed silk scarves.
Our line up of sellers with us at Etsy Made Local Glasgow on Sunday 2nd December. We have a different selection of sellers on Saturday 1st December so come along on both days to see our full lineup! Can't make it? All our sellers are available on Etsy via the links on the photo's. Shop Local and Shop Independent this Christmas.
Getting prepared for tomorrow's natural dyes workshop as part of Reviving Paisley's Heritage.
Getting prepared for tomorrow's natural dyes workshop as part of Reviving Paisley's Heritage. https://t.co/yq5qOnMJld
Looking forward to tomorrow, I'll be at Paisley Wevolution to run a natural dyes workshop!, it will be fun! Going to pick some rosemary from the garden to add to the dye pot.
https://t.co/Lm0xcWHqOU
Looking forward to tomorrow, I'll be at Paisley Wevolution to run a natural dyes workshop!, it will be fun! Going to pick some rosemary from the garden to add to a pot.
https://www.engagerenfrewshire.com/files/2915/2958/0413/Paisley_THCARS2_-_summer_weaving__dyeing_workshops.pdf
added today
This shibori blue chiffon scarf and naturally dyed transparent scarf has been hand dyed with indigo from an organic indigo vat. The dominant colour is blue due to the number of dips in the indigo vat and white due to the shibori. This hand dyed shawl is beautiful for a treat to
just added blue chiffon scarf naturally dyed scarf hand dyed shawl blue silk scarf eco gift for her sheer wedding shawl ombre indigo transparent https://t.co/vbBwghFGgx via
This shibori blue chiffon scarf and naturally dyed transparent scarf has been hand dyed with indigo from an organic indigo vat. The dominant colour is blue due to the number of dips in the indigo vat and white due to the shibori. This hand dyed shawl is beautiful for a treat to
new indigo and persian berries shibori: green blue chiffon scarf naturally dyed scarf hand dyed shawl silk scarf eco gift for her sheer wedding shawl ombre green transparent https://t.co/32ZDdG9WXU via
This green and blue chiffon scarf and naturally dyed transparent scarf has been hand dyed with persian berries and indigo from an organic indigo vat. The indigo scarf was over dyed with buckthorn aka persian berries and then folded for a shibori effect before it went back into the
from my organic indigo vat: natural indigo scarf sky blue silk organic dyed indigo scarf aqua blue wedding shawl naturally dyed scarf watercolour eco gift for her https://t.co/Z8EFpL2xtn via
This natural indigo scarf and sky blue silk scarf is of an organic dyed indigo from an organic vat made with the sugar from bananas and fructose with natural indigo. No harsh chemicals have been used. The colour for this light silk shawl is a watercolour pastel blue shade. A
Indigo and Buckthorn dyed, blue chiffon scarf naturally dyed scarf hand dyed shawl green blue silk scarf eco gift for her sheer wedding shawl ombre indigo transparent https://t.co/FB0eWh8mn0 via
This blue chiffon scarf and naturally dyed transparent scarf has been hand dyed with persian berries and indigo from an organic indigo vat. The indigo scarf over dyed with buckthorn aka persian berries has resulted in this attractive green blue silk scarf. The dominant colour is blue
Win a subscription to Selvedge Magazine https://t.co/YXlRzZRMX5 via
TextileArtist.org is offering you the opportunity to win a 12-issue subscription to Selvedge Magazine (worth £220). That means the magazine will be delivered to your home address every two months for two years. Selvedge is a beautifully produced, highly contemporary embroidery and textile art publi...
Eucalyptus on wool.
A gorgeous spring day
A little bit of background
Mechelina is my middle name. It is also the name of my grandmother whose accessories attracted me as a young child to experiment in dressing up.
I can never stop being amazed by the magic of indigo
Feeling privileged to be part of this creative group
Latest line of InCube entrepreneurs have designs on success Talented up and coming designers are making a name for themselves through an innovative business support and employability programme run …
Happy 2018 to all!
It’s easy to get lost in your own little world on Instagram, but don’t forget to give your fans what they want every now and then. Here you can use to instantly see your top nine Instagram posts of 2017 in order of popularity.
indigo and onion- blue green chiffon silk scarf burnt orange print naturally dyed scarf, indigo onion dyed, transparent silk ochre mustard pattern, eco gift https://t.co/IhcgokVvUT via
A gorgeous chiffon silk scarf hand dyed with indigo in a varied blue pattern. It has been folded for a second dye bath with onion skins dye. This has resulted in a combination of a light blue green colour with a burnt orange mustard pattern. Size: 40 x 150 cm (15 x 60 inches)
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