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He had never made rubbings before, and only knew the general process.
He thought for a moment, then spread the cloth out flat on the ground in the yard, sandwiched the dyed leaves between the two pieces of cloth, and placed flat stones under the cloth.
After placing the padding, he picked up a stone and gently tapped it on the spot where the dyed leaves had been.
The juice from the dyed leaves is tapped out and printed onto the fabric, creating a striking leaf pattern.
It looks a little blurry, but that's okay, it still looks pretty good.
When Wu Jiong returned, he saw him fiddling with fabric in the yard and asked, "What are you doing?"
Jian Mo looked up and said, "Print the leaves onto the fabric. Come and take a look."
Wu Jiong walked over and took a closer look. "Beautiful."
Jian Mo looked at the fabric underneath, now covered in patterns, with satisfaction. "I think it looks good too."
After the printed fabric dried, Jian Mo tried using salt water to fix the color.
After washing, Jian Mo saw that the leaf patterns were still visible on the fabric—it was a success.
The printed fabric looked really good. Jian Mo was very satisfied and took the fabric, asking Qing Kuo to help make two sets of pajamas.
Qing Kuo looked at it carefully again and again. "What beautiful patterns! You always have so many ingenious ideas."
Jian Mo: "It wasn't my idea. Someone in my area did it this way, and I referenced it. Unfortunately, something went wrong in the process, and the patterns are a bit faint. The original patterns should have been very clear and beautiful."
Qing Kuo couldn't see anything wrong with it being too light, and said to Jian Mo, "I think it looks good enough, very unique."
Jian Mo: "I'll think about it later. Could you make two sets of pajamas for us first, one for me and one for Wu Jiong? Do you need my measurements?"
Qing Kuo waved his hand. "I can tell just by looking at your figures. What size do you want?"
After the pajamas were finished, everyone looked at the large leaf patterns on them and came over to admire them.
The leaf pattern is indeed quite beautiful, giving the pajamas a unique charm; no similar fabric has ever been dyed in the tribe.
Jian Mo looked at the finished clothes and felt a little more satisfied. Just looking at the fabric, the texture might seem a bit faint, but looking at the finished clothes, she felt it was alright.
Clear patterns have a clear aesthetic appeal, while light patterns have a light aesthetic appeal.
Everyone thought the imprinted patterns were beautiful, completely different from the patterns created by tie-dyeing, so they brought their fabrics and came over to ask Jian Mo for advice.
This isn't something that requires particularly advanced technology.
Jian Mo, but looking at the patterns that everyone has made in rubbings, she still feels they are not clear enough.
Seeing him struggling with this, Wu Jiong asked, "Maybe it's because there was no boiling process?"
Jian Mo instinctively retorted, "If you boil it, the freshly imprinted pattern will definitely smudge..."
Halfway through her sentence, Jian Mo suddenly realized that if the patterns would become mottled when boiled, what about when steamed?
They have a large iron pot, unlike the old earthenware pots that would crack if you just steamed them a little.
Jian Mo thought it over and found it increasingly feasible. She put her arm around Wu Jiong's shoulder and kissed him. "You're a genius! I'll go make the preparations right away!"
Since it was going to be steamed, Jian Mo simply wet the fabric in water, then wrung it out until it was half-dry, and then used dye leaves to make prints.
This time, instead of taking out the dye leaves, he rolled the cloth and leaves together into a roll and steamed it in an iron pot.
After steaming it for half the night, he took the fabric out and opened it. He found that the patterns on it were much clearer, and the leaf veins on it were especially beautiful.
Jian Mo showed the fabric to Wu Jiong: "It's beautiful, this is exactly the kind of fabric I wanted."
Wu Jiong picked up the fabric and looked at its bright colors and clear patterns, thinking it was better than before, "It looks more exquisite now."
Jian Mo: "Yes! That's what I thought too. It's very artistic. In a couple of days, I'll go and collect some other kinds of leaves and flowers to print on the fabric."
The leaves and fruits they collected were excellent dyes. They would squeeze out the juice, concentrate it, soak the flowers or leaves in the dye solution, and then print it onto clothes.
The dyeing effect is excellent, and the patterns are very diverse.
Jian Mo was very interested in the fabric and experimented with it for quite some time.
Many people in the tribe followed his experiment and eventually produced a large batch of fabrics with various patterns or leaf designs.
This batch of fabrics has more vibrant colors and clearer patterns, giving it a more artistic look.
Everyone loved the fabric and cut it into all sorts of clothes.
The understated pattern is indeed beautiful; it doesn't stand out when used as clothing, but rather gives off a unique feel.
They went out hunting and gathering wearing patterned clothes. Gradually, people from several surrounding tribes learned about it and fell in love with their fabric. They formed teams and brought their own fabric to exchange for dyed fabric with them.
Jian Mo and her family had just made a batch of clothes, which slightly reduced their fabric supply. After this exchange, their fabric supply increased significantly, filling the closet again.
He doesn't have a collecting obsession, but he couldn't help being happy to see a closet full of fabrics.
At least this year, they won't lack fabric.
The plants grow very quickly; the total growth period for dyed leaves and fruits is only about ten days. After that, the dyed fruits disappear, but the dyed leaves can still be used, although their quality is much worse.
Jian Mo stopped the experiment, still wanting more, and turned her attention back to collecting food.
That day, while Jian Mo was resting, Ban Ming and a few others ran over and asked Jian Mo, "Jian Mo, do you want to come with us to collect bird eggs tomorrow?"
Jian Mo asked in confusion, "Isn't it forbidden in the tribe to collect bird eggs in the spring?"
Spring is the breeding season for birds, and if you collect bird eggs during this time, they won't be able to hatch their next generation.
For tribes that rely on gathering for a living, it is a great pity that no birds hatch in the spring, and naturally, no birds can be hunted to eat in the summer and autumn.