Last weekend we had a baby shower for my daughter-in-law Becca and her baby girl in waiting, my first grandchild. It was for family only, which meant almost twenty people were there. As I prepared for the party I thought I would like to make a banner as decoration. It was an idea that leaped immediately into form, although after about a week I realized that finishing it in time was not possible. Still, it wanted to be made and so I have continued to work on it.
I started with an old, slightly tattered and stained dresser scarf made from finely woven linen. I mordanted it and put it in a bath of combined lac and fustic. Lac is the tree insect from Asia whose resinous secretions are the basis of lacquer and Chinese red. The extract I use gives a strong pink similar to cochineal, but a little grayer. Unfortunately a lot of the resin is still present in the extract so it has to be boiled and strained before it can be used.
Adding fustic, a yellow from India, to a little bit of lac produces a warm pinky coral.
When it dries it goes a little more raspberry, but I got the value I was hoping for.
I am planning to make a multi-paneled banner using the words to a sixteenth century Christmas carol, somewhat adapted, with the chorus embroidered on longer, thinner strips made from a rough open weave cotton.
This is where I am so far. As Liz and Rachel say: "Watch this space."