A Botanists Garden is a 100% merino knitted zero waste cardigan. Inspired and dyed with seasonal plant matter, this garden includes purple hydrangeas from Wellington, waste cherries from Central Otago and a collaborative vat of indigo.

Photographer: Roy Schott

GARDEN NOTES

This project was all about sustainable colouration. Natural colour!

With the aim to explore and demonstrate the creative, imaginative, technical and original use of colour in dress using natural dyes. Responding to an environmental objective: the circular economy, a system in which products and materials are kept in a high-value state of use for as long as possible.

Today’s linear ‘take, make, dispose’ economic mode relies on large quantities of cheap, easily accessible materials and energy and is a model that is reaching it’s physical limits. A circular economy is an attractive and viable alternative with huge benefits for the environment.

THIS COLOUR ADVENTURE BEGAN IN CENTAL OTAGO

Pre project sampling began in Alexandra, a small central Otago town, at the end of a hot cherry picking season. I had a small amount of silk fabric and a cone of 2ply cream wool to play with. I also had my knitting machine with me, so I knitted a few small sample to dye.

These sample were all bought to life from gathered materials that surrounded the house I was staying at, most of which were pure experiments. I played with mint, blackberry leaves and stems and tomato leaves. I also used a series of resists and fabric folds to create patterns, I particularly enjoyed the use of pegs and paperclips.

The waste cherries I had gathered at the end of the picking season, aren’t particularly colour fast (as you can see now in the technical notes book), however, they were super fun to play around with.

Some of the materials gathered were saved for when I got to Wellington to officially dive into the project. The waste cherries were frozen, blackberry and willow leaves and a small variety of lichens were saved for sampling.