Time is what you need for a Bush Boil and the luxury of time to sit and watch an aromatic pot of gum leaves boiling is such a heady pleasure. Add to that a group of like-minded souls and we have the recipe for a relaxing day full of social interaction, slow stitching, natural dyeing and inspiration.
Ideally over a log fire but a Butane Stove is fine.
Boiling up gum leaf tea [Mother Brew], adding cloth to get colour- seeing the change when iron is added.
Bundling with leaves inside for a print.
It is a slow day watching the pot boil,
There will be some offcuts already coloured, and we can take the opportunity to stitch them into pot holders as we wait.
Supplied
Fat Quarter Khadi cotton fabric [Note Khadi is hand spun, hand woven cloth- the ultimate slow cloth]
15 cm wide strip of khadi
My fabric & thread stash to dig into for cloth to work on a pot holder
Please Bring
Bunch of gums leaves- size of a bunch of flowers is enough.
Your little sewing kit of needles and small scissors
Apron or wear old clothes
Rubber gloves
Glass jar to take some Mother Brew home [don’t know if it scientifically makes a difference to your next boil up but it does contain a lot of encouragement and connection to the process]
Up to a metre of fabric or a tshirt to throw into the pot- well washed, natural cloth
NOTE Calico is a beautiful cloth if you wash it multiple times first- I used to just throw it into every wash for a few weeks and it loses all the stiffness and becomes so soft. Once it has had the stiffness washed out it is lovely to stitch into. Raid the Op Shop for old linen or bed sheets.
Folding chair to sit and watch the pot.Bush Boil UP Class
