Eco-printing is a way of dyeing fabric (or paper) with plants. Unlike more traditional dye processes like making a vat or dye bath from plants to extract the colour, the leaves, flowers and other plant parts are bundled tightly with the pre-treated fabric and steamed. During this process, the plant material prints directly onto the material, imparting not only colour but also the shape of the leaf or flower to the fabric. Results are always unique, influenced by many factors, and opening up the bundles is a surprise each time. As in more traditional dyeing, mordants are used to improve lightfastness and colour uptake, but the colour itself comes exclusively from the leaves and flowers.
