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The Art of Eco Printing

A living collaboration between plant, cloth and the elements.

Rooted in an ancient relationship between human hands and the natural world, eco printing is a slow and elemental process through which the colours, forms and impressions of plants are transferred directly onto cloth.

Gathered botanicals are carefully arranged by hand, wrapped and bound within natural fabric, then transformed through water, heat and time. What emerges cannot be entirely planned or repeated — each piece bearing the unique imprint of place, season and the particular alchemy of its making.

We create the conditions. Nature leaves the mark.

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A woman in a brown patterned sleeveless dress stands in a lush, sunlit landscape holding a woven basket, viewed from behind with blurred white flowers in the foreground.

IN RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LAND

Gathering

This living process begins in nature — walking slowly, observing what is growing and gathering from the abundance of the season.

Leaves, flowers and wild botanicals are lovingly chosen by hand, each carrying within them their own pigments, forms and possibilities.

What is gathered is never quite the same from one season to another, allowing the land itself to become part of this alchemical love story — time and place leaving their own quiet imprint, held within the cloth.
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A botanical illustration of a leafy branch with elongated olive-green leaves and small round brown buds, shown on a plain white background.
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Plant and earth merge
with water and air
heated by fire
held
by the mystery
of the elements
combined
in the spirit
of co-creation
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A woman in a brown, patterned dress kneels in a grassy, bushy outdoor setting, reaching toward small white flowers while a woven tray filled with wild botanicals and flowers sits beside her.
A woman in a brown, patterned dress kneels in a forest clearing, holding a large woven basket filled with green leaves and small white flowers.
A round woven basket filled with small white flowers and green leaves, placed on the ground among grass, ferns, and shrubs in a natural outdoor setting.
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PREPARING THE CANVAS

The cloth

Before the plants can leave their mark, the cloth must first be prepared to receive them.

Working with natural fibres, each piece of raw cloth is carefully measured, cut and sewn into its final form — a garment or sacred shawl.

In small batches, the finished pieces are soaked in an iron-water mordant, preparing the fibres to receive and hold the botanical pigments
and impressions that will follow.

Once soaked, the excess water is gently pressed from the cloth before each piece is laid upon clean canvas, ready for the harvested botanicals.

There is a quiet intentionality in this stage of the process.
The cloth begins simply, holding only possibility — awaiting the meeting of human hand, mordant, plant, water, fire and time.

A blank canvas, prepared for this process of elemental co-creation.

A woman sits on a wooden floor in a rustic room, unrolling a roll of raw silk fabric while holding a light sage green fringed fabric. A wooden cabinet, a white wood-burning stove, and warm wood floors are visible in the background.

The process begins with the preparation of

Raw materials

From raw cloth into form, fabric is measured, cut and sewn into garments and sacred shawls — creating the canvas upon which nature will lovingly leave her mark.

Here, raw silk prints particularly well and is a beautiful fabric for our sacred shawls.

A woman with long blonde hair uses scissors to cut a large roll of natural, raw silk fabric on a dark wooden floor, with a patterned textile laid out nearby.

Slowly, carefully

By hand

Each garment passes through the tending of human hands — cut, sewn, soaked and prepared with quiet intentionality before the botanical process begins.

A woman outdoors arranging dried flowers and leaves on a piece of raw silk fabric, wearing a sleeveless rust-brown patterned dress.

The meeting of hand, plant and cloth — creating with

Wild botanicals

Each botanical is placed intuitively and playfully, allowing feeling, form and texture to guide the unfolding composition.

A woven oval basket filled with dried botanicals and a small knife wrapped in a dark brown leather pouch, placed on a rustic wooden surface with a natural outdoor background.

Gathered from the abundance of the season

A living palette

Leaves, flowers, stems and seed heads each carry their own unique possibilities — an ever-changing palette shaped by season and place.

A styled flat-lay of dried and pressed botanical elements, including sage green leaves, small yellow flowers, and a single orange blossom, arranged on a textured beige linen fabric.

No two compositions are ever the same

A living design

The botanicals are laid directly upon the prepared cloth, creating an ephemeral design that will soon be transformed by the elements. One of a kind, each composition becomes a fleeting expression of what was growing, gathered and felt in that particular moment.

Three hand created eco printed rolls wrapped in dark thread, shown in earthy tones of brown, beige, and grey on a wooden surface.

Gathered inward and held

Folding and binding

The completed composition is carefully folded around a wooden core and bound tightly with string. This process holds the cloth and botanicals together in preparation for the alchemy to come.

Outdoor fire scene with a stone ring, visible flames, a dark metal pot, trees, and a sandy ground in a natural wooded setting.

Working with the elements

Fire and water

Here, beneath the open sky, we tend the fire and simply create the conditions for nature to leave her mark.

A dramatic fire burning as viewed through a rustic wooden structure, the flames and outdoor scene framed in the centre.

Held within heat, water and time

Elemental alchemy

As the bound garments steam above the fire, heat and moisture awaken the pigments held within the plants, carrying their colours and impressions into the cloth.
A woman outdoors holding two wrapped eco printed bundles, standing behind a table with trees and a rustic shelter in the background.

The Living Spirit of

Co-creation

At the heart of eco printing is a living relationship — between human hands and the natural world, intention and surrender, the seen and the unseen.

We begin the process, but we do not create alone. 
Each garment emerges through its own unique meeting of plant, cloth, water, fire and time — carrying within it the imprint of the land and the particular alchemy of its making.

No two pieces will ever be quite the same. 
Each holds its own story, its own beauty and its own quiet medicine — a tangible thread connecting us back to the magic of the living world.

A garment created not only to adorn the body, 
but to deepen our remembrance of belonging to the Earth.
An illustrated vintage-style design featuring a sepia-toned map outline of Africa with botanical elements and a protea flower, shown on a plain white background.

Proudly South African

Designed & made with care
on the Garden Route

An illustration of three women embracing from behind, shown in profile with long brown, medium brown, and light gray hair, set against a solid white background.

Women Empowerment

Women supporting women, 
through meaningful, ongoing work

A botanical illustration of a leafy branch with elongated olive-green leaves and small round brown buds, shown on a plain white background.

Created Slowly

Small-batch garments lovingly made
in rhythm with motherhood & life

A metallic gold sun image featuring a spiral centre and radiating rays, shown on a plain white background.

Sacred wear

Created with reverence for the body,
the maker and the living Earth