Experimenting: dyeing with used tea bags

This year, for my Y Collective pieces, I decided to use all of the used tea bags that Will and I have been consuming for the last few weeks (yes, we drink a lot of tea). I've always wanted to experiment with dyeing some of the silks that I love to work with, but I don't like to use chemicals if I can help it - part of the "eco" in me.

Here are some of my dye swatches, using silk organza and cotton.

Thanks to some suggestions from my amazing fibre artist friend, Amanda, I played a bit with binding coins and chopsticks, using wire and rubberbands. I was quite pleased with the effect that the coins gave with the patina.

As a result...when constructed into one

of the bodices for one of my SKIN pieces.

On this piece, I layered dyed silk organza over dyed plain cotton weave to give the piece a more ethereal feeling; kinda like "cells in the body or just below our skin"

This bodice is part of my "protective" piece.