Most of my available mushroom time this season is being spent out in the forest, searching for—and finding—dye mushrooms. But I did put together one Phaeolus dyepot, just to get back into the groove and limber up the senses. I’ve tried “bottle shibori” with scarves before, so this year I decided to try the technique on a silk camisole. I found a suitable bottle (emptied of its original contents, Peat Project scotch, highly recommended) and wrapped the camisole diagonally, starting at the bottom of the bottle. I followed the silk with wrappings of dental floss, spacing it fairly tightly and scrunching it down toward the bottom of the bottle until the entire camisole was tied on. 

I like this short, stout bottle because when I stood it upright in the dyebath (having filled it with plain water for stability), the camisole was completely submerged. After a good simmer in the rich colour of a few fresh buttons, I removed the bottle and immediately painted the outer folds with a concentrated copper solution.

I might have removed the camisole as soon as the silk was cool, but the forest called out to me, repeatedly, and it was several days before I could return to this project. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and it took a few minutes to cut away the tightly wrapped dental floss (which had dyed a toothsome shade of yellow). Here’s what emerged:

I only wish the camisole was of a size I could wear!