Batik Dye

Today we used fabric dye and wax - this is a traditional art form called batik.
Watch this short video clip to see how it works.

We used paraffin candles which would drip onto the fabric as we did not have a xjanting tool.  (Maybe next time!)

Then we were able to soak the fabric in our dye.  We also added some other colours by directly applying the dye to areas that we wanted to change. 

Next week we will iron out the wax.

                   

Beetroot Dye

Today we are going to try to make dye using beetroot.
The method is the same as with the purple cabbage so we will need water, a pot and to boil the beetroot.

We think that beetroot will make

Flynn C., Shakyia , Ella & Daniel thinks  green
Taegyn and Brooke think red / purple
Flynn NS & Jacob think blue

We chopped up the beetroot and added the water.  We noticed that the juice coming out when we were cutting was very red - like blood.  

When we added the water before boiling the water went red too.

We dyed a piece of fabric which showed us that beetroot would colour red.

Unfortunately our colour potion has sat in the classroom over the week and has now begun to grow mould.  We have decided to let the mould keep growing to see what happens. We also want to look at the mould under the microscope.

Hopefully we will be able to take some photos of the mould and share them with you.

Jacobs handprint after cutting the beetroot!

Natural Dyes

We have found lots of resources that show us how to make dyes from vegetables, fruit and other sources of vegetation.

So ..... we experimented!

Today we have chopped up purple cabbage we have to boil it in water for about an hour then strain it.

This is meant to make a blue coloured dye.

We could see colour on the knife it looked like it was going to be purple.  So we put it onto some paper to see if it would stay purple or change. We noticed that it turned blue as it dried.  We also noticed that bits of cabbage left on the chopping board changed to blue too.

When we started to boil the cabbage we were able to see the water changing colour really quickly.  We tested it on paper and it made light blue.

After boiling for longer we got a very dark blue dye.

We stored this dye for a week in a dark cupboard.  When we got it out today (Monday 26th Aug) we found that it had changed colour again, to a reddie purple.
We are going to try dying some fabric and see what colour it stays.

While we were dying the fabric we decided to try different mordants.

                   


No Mordant                                           We tired - Salt                                    We tried - Soda Ash

We now know that mordants have an effect on the colour of the dye.

During term 3 the students and I are going to be looking at natural and synthetic dyes.  To start with we are going to be experimenting with different commercial dyes, looking at how they work, the different techniques for dying and how they are applied to different fabrics.  Then the fun bit...

we are going to find our own materials and create our own dye.  There are lots of items in our natural environment, such as lichens, onion skins, fruit skins and barks that can be used to create dye.  We will then get to apply these dyes on the same type of materials that we used with commercial dyes and compare the results.  

We will also take some time looking at traditional use of natural materials to achieve a range of colours, and explore why some colours are more valued than others.

GINGER BEER

Last week we made ginger beer, using a recipe that we found on Suzy's world website. Follow this link for more information and the recipe.  suzys world

SO ...
today we were finally able to have a taste.

As you can see we had rather an exciting reaction!

When we were making the mixture for ginger beer, we had lots of conversations about how substances can change.

Two easy changes for us to see were: the sugar, which melted or dissolved.

and the yeast used the sugar to create energy, releasing carbon dioxide, which is what makes the fizz!

JUICY POTIONS

Definition of a 'Potion':

 A liquid that is believed to have a magical effect on someone who drinks it:

Today we made 'juice' potions and while we don't think they had any magical effects on us we know that they were good for us. Fruit juices taste good, are nutritious and can be beneficial for our health because they are rich in vitamins, minerals.

Aaron brought in some 'super juice' for us all to try, then we got to make out own.

We had carrots, apples, oranges, and ginger to run through the juicers. It was amazing to see how many carrots you needed to make only 1/2 a cup of juice!  This is one of the reasons why it is important to only drink straight fruit juice in moderation.  Not many of us could eat 12 big carrots in a go, but it would be easy to drink the 1/2 a cup of juice they produce!

 Then we go on the business and mixed a couple together to see how they tasted.

Potion number 1: Carrot and Apple juice.

Potion number 2: Orange, Apple and Ginger juice.

Number two was a definite winner with us all.  Next week we are going to have a go with a few vegetable combinations!

LIP BALM

There won't be any chapped lips for herbs and potion students this winter. Today we finally got to make our lip balm.
We used a recipe that we found on the Martha Stewart Website which was very easy to follow.  The website even has a short video clip that we were able to watch to make sure we were on the right track!

Martha Stewart-scented-lip-balm

1 tablespoon beeswax pearls (also called pellets or pastilles)
1 tablespoon pure shea butter
2 tablespoons sweet almond oil

To make tinted balm, add small amount of coloured lipstick to your melted mix.

Melt beeswax, shea butter, and almond oil together in the top of a double boiler or in a heat-safe bowl set over a pot of simmering water; stir continuously with a whisk. Once the ingredients are liquefied, remove them from heat.  to a measuring cup or a container with a pour spout and then divide it among 10 5 ml lip balm containers. Let balms cool completely until solid, about 20 minutes. 

You can also add 6-10 drops of essential oils to this mix.  You need to do this when the wax and Shea butter are totally melted.  THEN Whisk them in quickly.

We found the best way to transfer the balm into the containers was using a dropper.  This meant we didn't spill it too much!