My dye trials for the chuppah may not have been as informative as I had hoped, but they did reveal that oak gall tannin is the best dye to use for the resist design. This is an element of dyeing with natural dye extracts that is unique to them, as far as I know. Dyes that come from trees often have a lot of tannin in them, and if you thicken those particular dyes with gum tragacanth (natural dyes don't work with sodium alginate like chemical dyes) and paint or screen a design, then over-paint or immersion dye, the tannin pattern will remain (see yesterday's dye trials). I use this method very often to introduce a sub-pattern into my pieces. It makes them more layered and interesting, I hope. This may not actually work on this cloth, but I spent all day screening background frond motifs as shown. The cloth is sitting overnight under plastic to keep it damp and allow the tannin to penetrate thoroughly, so tomorrow it will be ready to dye. Nervous!!