Malaysian ecoprint fabric maker grows tannin-rich plants in her terrace house

Syd is passionate about using natural dyes and eco-friendly products to produce her fabric. Photos: The Star/Azlina Abdullah

If you happen to visit Masitah Babjan’s home and open her refrigerator, you will find more than just food in there.

In the jovial lady’s chiller are also various types of leaves and flowers.

The 60-year-old management consultant is a home-based ecoprint fabric maker and uses the plants for her craft. In her garden at her home in Subang Jaya, Selangor is a variety of herbs, flowering plants and trees.

Among all her plants, she pays extra attention to the Mexican creeper, ulam raja, oroxylum indicum plant (pokok lanang), cosmos flowers, castor tree (pokok jarak) and guava tree.

A variety of tannin-rich plants thrives in Syd’s garden. Photo: Masitah Babjan“These plants are special because they are high in tannin. And I need tannin-rich leaves and flowers to produce ecoprint fabric. It is hard to obtain these tannin-rich plants in the city.

“I bought these plants from a nursery. Thankfully, they are thriving in my tiny garden. Whenever I need to make ecoprint fabric, I step into my garden and snip off some tannin-rich leaves and flowers,” shares Masitah, fondly known as Syd, during an interview in Kuala Lumpur recently.

She always carries a pair of scissors in her car as well – just in case she comes across any tannin-rich plants by the roadside.

“Teak leaves and daun ketapang (Indian almond leaves) are also high in tannin. Whenever I spot them by the roadside, I’d stop and forage responsibly for some leaves, only taking what I need, leaving behind the shoots.”

Ecoprint, also known as botanical printing, is a technique where the colours and shapes of leaves or flowers are imprinted onto fabric or paper.

Syd is passionate about using natural dyes and eco-friendly products to produce her fabric. As an advocate of sustainable fashion, she wants to create products that are kinder to Mother Earth.

Syd says working on ecoprint fabrics gives her a chance to relax and unwind. Photo: Masitah Babjan“Pollution, deforestation and climate change are some of the biggest environmental concerns, including water pollution and also the increasing levels of rubbish piling up in landfills.

“Textile production is said to be one of the main contributors to water pollution. Effluents discharged from textile factories enter the water and this affects soil microorganisms and agricultural productivity.”

The culprit, she says, is the rapid growth of fast fashion, and the grandmother of six worries about its damaging effects on the environment.

“These days, more consumers are buying affordable clothes on various online platforms. Once an item is out of fashion, consumers discard it and it ends up in the landfill,” Syd laments.

The article Putting The Brakes On Fast Fashion on www.unep.org reports that textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water globally. It takes about 2,000 gallons (7,570l) of water to make a pair of jeans.

Indigo dye is derived from the Indigofera tinctoria plant. Photo: Masitah Babjan

The article further states that every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned. If nothing changes, the fashion industry will use up a quarter of the world’s carbon budget by 2050.

Syd says consumers should be more environmentally responsible to leave a smaller carbon footprint.

“Many countries, including Malaysia, celebrate Fashion Revolution Day on April 24. It is a day to focus on the need for greater transparency in the fashion supply chain, mainly in relation to its impact on the environment.

“I think consumers should know that slow fashion helps to protect the environment. Little steps can work wonders to make our environment greener,” she says.

Syd also conducts workshops on shibori and indigo dyeing, and ecoprinting. In these workshops, she advocates the need to care for the environment. One way is by using natural dyes, which is a more sustainable alternative to synthetic fabric dyeing.

“Natural dyes are very safe as it doesn’t contaminate the environment. Botanical materials are printed onto fabric, and the waste goes back to the soil as compost.”

I think consumers should know that slow fashion helps to protect the environment, says Syd.

Making green choices

Syd’s interest in ecoprint fabric happened entirely by chance. Four years ago, she stumbled upon shibori – a Japanese manual tie-dyeing technique using indigo dye – workshop on Instagram.

It all started with her interest in Indigofera tinctoria (also known as true indigo), a plant which is a source of indigo dye.

“I was fascinated by how shibori textile makers use many techniques to manipulate fabric including stitching, clamping, crumpling and twisting. And I fell in love with the different hues created by natural indigo.”

Intrigued by natural dyes, Syd initially experimented with purple cabbage, then moved to kitchen waste like onion skin, mangosteen peel and avocado skin.

Syd derives much satisfaction from unbundling successfully ecoprinted fabrics like these.“It’s so interesting how purple cabbage dye turns blue when baking soda is added. It turns pink when a squeeze of lemon juice is added. Tea gives a beautiful earthy shade, while yellow onion skin gives out a golden yellow hue. Pomegranate skin releases a light yellow hue.

“I found this very exciting when I started researching natural dyes. It’s almost like I was going through a rabbit hole in my deeper understanding of natural dyes. Each day, I’m learning new things and it’s such a wonderful educational journey,” says Syd, who turns to social media platforms to enhance her knowledge of ecoprinting.

Out of the many dyeing techniques, she is drawn to producing ecoprint fabric.

“I like ecoprinting because it’s challenging and exciting. But, unfortunately, not many crafters enjoy ecoprinting because it’s tedious and complicated.

“It isn’t about the aesthetics, materials and techniques used but more importantly to appreciate the process, purpose and intention of creating a piece of art,” says Syd, who produces ecoprint scarves, shawls, table runners, bandanas and tote bags, and shibori fabric all from the comfort of her kitchen.

Each batch of fabric, whether naturally dyed or ecoprinted, needs to be pretreated with mordant, a substance used to fix dyes on cloth. Some ingredients in mordanting include alum, soda ash and vinegar. There are various mordanting techniques which yield different results on dyed fabrics and ecoprints.

“Plants have different tannin levels. I usually study the mordanting process based on the tannin levels of leaves and flowers, and material,” says Syd, who uploads photos of her colourful creations on her Instagram.

Kitchen waste like onion skin, pomegranate rind and mangosteen skin can be used as natural dyes.

To make ecoprint fabric, Syd places leaves and flowers on cotton silk or linen material which have been mordanted. Then she gently rolls and neatly ties it before steaming it for 90 minutes. After steaming and unrolling, the fabric is left to dry for two days. The grand finale is always the best – a beautiful imprint from the natural dyes released from plants and leaves.

“It is hypnotherapy. The simple joy of unbundling an ecoprinted piece trepidation, anticipation and the surprises. There is a sense of satisfaction and fulfilment,” she says.

Syd admits there are challenges in crafting ecoprint fabric. It is disappointing, for instance, when the steamed material does not turn out as expected.

Natural dyes are very safe as they don’t contaminate the environment.

“There are instances when the pigments from the leaves will leave blurred imprints on the cloth. Sometimes, the prints are too faint. At times, the prints bleed and don’t create a crisp outline. When this happens, I accept it as ‘wabi-sabi’, a traditional Japanese aesthetics on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.”

She doesn’t mind repeating the process as it helps to keep her calm and relaxed.

“Ecoprinting is a hobby as I do it to destress. My father passed away recently. By engaging in ecoprinting, I get my mind off the grief and sorrow after his death.

“It’s been a challenge to juggle my consulting work, caring for my elderly mother and managing the home. Working on ecoprint fabric gives me a chance to unwind. Along the way, I’m learning more about nature, botany, science and art. Ecoprinting might be slow, but I am in tune with nature.”