Printing from the Garden: Create Stunning, One-of-a-Kind Prints with Flowers and Leaves

by Alison Kelly

Overview

Create gorgeous floral prints on fabric and paper using the natural pigments of common garden plants, flowers, and leaves with this stunning guide to the art of botanical contact printing.

A first-of-its-kind visual guide and instructional handbook, Printing from the Garden showcases the stunning results one can achieve by using 30 common leaves and flowers to print on cloth and paper, capturing their unique forms and colors. No experience required: teacher and textile artist Alison Kelly provides step-by-step, photographed instructions for bundle dyeing, mirror printing, and printing on clothing. She offers many examples to illustrate the beautiful results that are possible. Anyone can create vibrant botanical artworks using nature’s design wonders:

• Eucalyptus
• Rose of Sharon
• Daylily
• Coreopsis
• Queen Anne's lace
• And many more

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635868760
Publisher:	Storey Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	03/03/2026
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.59(d)

About the Author

Alison Kelly is a textile artist and the founder of Flora Obscura, a Brooklyn, New York-based shop and design studio that uses plants and natural dyes to create one-of-a-kind floral prints, working with clients including J. Crew and Pottery Barn Teen. Kelly learned weaving, silversmithing, and natural dyeing in Mexico before studying fashion design in Italy and was cast on Project Runway back in New York City. She now teaches online and in-person workshops in the United States and internationally and can be found online at floraobscura.nyc. 

Table of Contents

Preface: Introduction
Chapter 1: Practices of Dyeing with Flowers
Chapter 2: A study of botanical imprints
Chapter 3: Flowers & leaves covered in this book:
Aster
Hibiscus
Roses
Dogwood
Peony
Gerbera Daisy
Sunflowers
Coreopsis
Marigold
Cosmos
Oxalis
Goldenrod
Raspberry
Strawberry
Strawflower
Bird of Paradise
Bougainvillea
Dahlia
Impatiens
Scarlet Begonias
Butterfly Bush
Hydrangea
Peaflower
Hollyhock
Dyer’s chamomile
Safflower
Weld petals
bb. False indigo cc. Lavender dd. Mint
ee. Rosemary ff.
Chapter 4: Workshop

• Terminology
• Setting up for success
• Getting organized
• Materials
• Leaves and Flowers: A guide to reliable printers

Chapter 5: Preparing Fabric for Dyeing
a. Scouring
b. Mordanting
i. A reliable mordant recipe for protein fibers
ii. A reliable mordant recipe for cellulose fibers
iii. A reliable mordant recipe for paper
Chapter 6: Techniques
1. Bundle Dyeing
2. Botanical Contact-Printing on Fabric Composition and Color
i. Printing with a white background
ii. Creating a mirror-image print
iii. Printing with a carrier blanket to create a colorful background
3. Botanical Contact-Printing on Paper
Resources
Bibliography