Botanical Colors

Madder Orange extract

Madder Orange extract We acquired some natural dyes from a supplier recently, and one of the highlights of their collection is a finely powdered madder extract from Rubia cordifolia. We were really surprised at how strong and how orange the color turned out. This dye yields a very vivid and deep orange-red, very different from our standard madder extract. On cotton, the color is a redder shade, but still leans strongly toward orange. There’s a surprise color which is a rich chocolate brown that comes with dyeing the yarn on iron-mordanted wool fibers. Lighter shades from the exhaust bath yielded … Read more

Black Knight Scabiosa Flowers

Black Knight Scabiosa Flowers A beautiful varietal from Grand Prismatic Seed, we were lucky to get some from Vibrant Valley to offer. Also called Pincushion Flower, Black Knight Scabiosa makes a mysterious soft green to pinky purple in the dye bath depending on mordant, fiber and water quality. The beautiful shades are a lovely contrast to the bright oranges and yellows of the other flowers. Sold in 25g packages. You will receive dried flower heads with stems and tiny dark blossoms that may have separated from the flower head in each bag.

Coreopsis Flowers

Coreopsis Flowers Sold in 25 gram packages. Dyer’s Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria), also called golden tickseed or calliopsis, is a North American native plant. It grows wild in the Great Plains and Central US but is now naturalized throughout the US and Canada. It is an easy to grow annual dye flower and can also be used in herbal medicine to help with digestive upsets and other ailments. Coreopsis dyes protein fibers best and yields lighter shades on cellulose fibers. We are very pleased to offer freshly harvested flowers from a local organic grower and from Kathy’s garden We like to … Read more

Mature Dyer’s Polypore Mushrooms

Dyer’s Polypore mushroom (Phaeolus hispidoides) is one of the most common dye mushrooms in coniferous forests and is a dramatic, large flat mushroom, sometimes as large across as 12-14 inches. It’s always a thrill to come across one in the forest, as it is so huge, and the promise of all that color is very enticing. It’s a wonderful first mushroom to try as it contains a lot of color, and it’s easy to shift color with an iron mordant. These specimens make a rich golden brown and are from mushrooms I obtained from Julie Beeler a few years back. … Read more

Coptic Bookbinding with Alison Kaplan of Kata Golda Handmade

Coptic Bookbinding with Alison Kaplan of Kata Golda Handmade Saturday, January 16, 2027 In Person at Botanical Colors Studio 503 S Michigan St, Ste B Seattle WA 98108 9 AM-3:30 PM In this intimate class, students will learn the art of coptic bookbinding with Alison Kaplan of Kata Golda Handmade. The coptic bookbinding technique creates a flexible book with an exposed spine; the pages open flat, making it the perfect journal for writing and sketching. Building on decades of bookbinding experience, Alison makes this craft feel approachable and adaptable. She will showcase an assortment of finished handbound journals in many … Read more

Osage Orange Extract

Osage Orange Extract We are pleased to offer an extract of an indigenous North American dye plant, Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera). The Osage tree is native to Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri, and has naturalized in many parts of the country. The tree is prized for its strong wood and beautiful yellow-brown color. It forms a dense thicket and spreads through seed and root propagation. Our Osage is a very concentrated powdered extract which dissolves easily in hot water and yields a gorgeous deep golden yellow. We think you’ll be pleased with the rich shades you can achieve with this extract. … Read more

Navajo Tea

Navajo Tea (Thelesperma megapotamicum) also called cota or Hopi Tea is a traditional herbal medicine and dyestuff used by the Diné. The dried stems, fine leaves and blossoms yield a warm peach to rich orange-rust shade on wool and cotton. An iron mordant shifts the color to a warm brown. The plant is used as a tea for ailments and is considered a blood purifier. Our Navajo Tea has been stored in a non-food manner, so please do not use for medicine or for drinking. For our samples, we used 1:1 Navajo Tea to wool gauze weight of fabric (meaning … Read more

Hopi Black Sunflower Dye

Hopi Black Sunflower Dye (Helianthus annuus) is a traditional indigenous dye color used for baskets and wool dyeing. Our sunflower seeds came from a grower in central Washington, and they are gorgeous. Inky and full of pigment, we were thrilled at the beautiful smoky blue gray produced on wool gauze fabric. For our samples, we used 1:1 sunflower seeds to wool gauze weight of fabric (meaning for every gram of fabric, we weighed out a gram of seeds), added the seeds to water, then heated the seeds and water for about 45 minutes. After that, we strained the seeds out … Read more

Black Eyed Susan

Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) is a North American coneflower, a perennial that readily self sows, and a strong attractor to pollinators. We love its cheery bright yellow and near black, velvety center eyes. The color yield from Black Eyed Susan is surprising and exciting. With a dye bath that is pH neutral, wool dyes a beautiful soft green with alum, and a dark brown-olive with iron mordant. For our samples, we used 1:1 Black Eyed Susan to wool gauze weight of fabric (meaning for every gram of fabric, we weighed out a gram of flowers), added the flowers to … Read more

Coarse Walnut Hull

Coarse Walnut Hull is the same black walnut as our ground walnut hull powder, but not as finely pulverized. Use it in the same manner as regular walnut hulls to achieve rich dark brown and black tones. Walnut Hull Powder from black walnut (Juglans nigra) is a common source of brown dye throughout North America. The fleshy hulls are full of tannin, juglone and other pigments and are the primary source of the dye. Walnut hulls were used to dye hair, make inks and clothing and are also used in herbal medicine. For our samples, we used 1:1 walnut hull … Read more