Rumāl

Embroidered Rumāl, Hanging or Tablecloth. 1840-1880. India. Wool ground, silk embroidery threads. In the collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Rumāls are similar to handkerchiefs or bandannas. They are worn by Sikh men who cut their hair and do not wear a turban. Outside of Sikhism, they are commonly understood to be  bandannas or handkerchiefs and are worn as such, and no connection to Sikhism is implied. This one at the Baltimore Museum of Art was believed to have been used as a tablecloth or as more of a decorative hanging piece.

Blush

These are some of the results from my last dye session. Previous avocado batches have yielded salmony, orange colored fabrics (from the fabric that is boiled in the bath, not just soaked overnight), so it is nice to have some pieces that range from a very light pink to a blush color. This batch was boiled in the bath for an hour and left overnight to further saturate. I didn't use as many avocado pits as in previous attempts so I suspect that may be the cause of the lighter pink. Overall I am happy with the results. Aside from the shirt and felt in the upper right color, the rest of the fabrics are varying types of muslin.  

Happy New Year

On the final day of 2016 I did a final avocado dye bath. Some pieces had already been dyed once, but most had their first bath. I hung them up to dry this morning on the line. I figured this is a good way to ring in the new year. At this point, I've amassed a good amount of fabric dyed with avocado, so I think I will experiment with different types of dye in 2017. I have an indigo dye kit that I've been waiting to dive into.