Vikki Hughes Johnson

About Vikki Hughes Johnson

I learned to sew at a young age and have always been drawn to textiles. During Covid, I started taking online embroidery classes with well-known teachers from the UK. When I heard about eco-dyeing, I was fascinated and began experimenting with the process. I am a master gardener, so dyeing with natural materials fits perfectly with my passion for plants. Living in Lafayette County, I have access to all kinds of leaves, flowers, galls & nuts. My friends kindly share their rusty discards & I pick up rusted treasures wherever I go. I love to make one of a kind home furnishings and clothes using natural materials such as leaves, onion skins, marigolds and rust. I often recycle clothing and linens to make something new from that which might otherwise be discarded. Working in this way is a slow, methodical process. It requires scouring the fabric, treating it with a mordant to give the color “teeth” to adhere to the material, collecting materials from the woods, applying them to the fabric, rolling and securing each piece and boiling it or steaming it. It is then washed and ironed. Some pieces are dyed multiple times. The best part is always unwrapping the bundle. It is exciting to see what nature and time will produce. In employing this unique process of plant and rust dyeing, even decay can be a thing of beauty. In this way, the napkin, pillow or clothing becomes a functional work of art.