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The latest from our blog

Experience the Colors of Tangier

April 16, 2024April 16, 2024

a spoon of brown powder on a stack of tan and brown fabrics and yarns

Mordant Monday: Walnut, Madder, Iron and Indigo

April 14, 2024April 15, 2024

Sunday Visit: Kara Gilbert on Vibrant Valley Blue

April 14, 2024April 14, 2024

You might also be interested in…

Sign up for our Vibrant Valley Blue Pop Up! Sunday, April 21st

Sign up for our ART WALK Indigo Dip Saturday, April 13th

Workshop: Experience The Colors of Tangier

botanicalcolors

We sell sustainable textile dyes retail + wholesale from plants and natural sources and have a huge new natural dye production studio-message us!

Today on #MordantMonday we dive into Black Walnut

Today on #MordantMonday we dive into Black Walnut - Juglans nigra. When combined with other colors you can get exciting mixes and beautiful color blends that harmonize and are perfect for patchwork, creating gradations and stitching.

It is one of our most interesting tannins and it’s a color that’s native to the North American continent. The entire tree contains color but it is in the green hulls that we find a strong concentration of dark tannins yield light beige to golden brown on cellulose. On wool, black walnut really shines and makes a rich brown shade.

Skill level: Good for an intermediate or advanced dyer. You should be familiar with cellulose mordanting, using iron as a post-bath, dyeing with natural dye extracts, and indigo dipping. If you are an adventurous beginner, try walnut + indigo and as your skills develop, move to the other variations.

The inspiration for using walnut comes from Sara Buscaglia of Ancient Futures Farm and author of the book Farm & Folk Quilt Alchemy (we have signed copies!) In her book, Sara beautifully articulated some ideas that I’d been mulling over and when I saw the results she achieved, I knew we should dive in and start testing colors. We’ve done experiments with quebracho, walnut, osage, sumac, gallo-tannin and more. It’s been a lot of fun! @farmandfolk

Head to our Blog to read all about it! Recipes coming soon!

#naturaldye #walnut #blackwalnut #naturaldyersofinstagram #naturaldyeing #colorcombo #diy #craft #organic

Every Sunday, Botanical Colors sits down for an in

Every Sunday, Botanical Colors sits down for an interview with a luminary in the natural dye, textile and art world.

This week we sit down with force of nature Kara Gilbert of @VibrantValleyFarm. Vibrant Valley Farm works diligently to care for this earth in everything they do. They farm vegetables, flowers and dye plants and in each step of the process, honor sustainable practices to create healthier communities locally and globally in our outreach, education and daily systems. We are launching an exciting new Indigo with them on Earth Day, April 22nd, so we sat down with Kara to learn more about Vibrant Valley Blue.

Today is the last day to sign up for Kathy’s: Th

Today is the last day to sign up for Kathy’s: The Indigo Henna Vat Workshop

Indigo is the fabled blue of legend, history and culture and has fascinated artists and scholars for centuries. Indigo is the most popular dye that we carry and there are different ways to make an indigo vat for dipping.

Our favorite is the 1-2-3 Henna vat, where henna, this unique natural dye and body tattoo (mehndi) paint plays an integral part of an indigo vat, yielding beautiful results.

#henna #indigo #organicindigo #naturaldye #naturaldyeing #hennavat

The next dye we would like to dive into from our J

The next dye we would like to dive into from our Japanese Traditional Dyes is Sappanwood.

Sappanwood sawdust is native to SE Asia and India and makes a rich, pinkish red when calcium carbonate is added to the dye bath. It is one of the “exotic” red wood dyes. People traded it along the Silk Road and medieval dyers often used it. When used from 50-100% on the weight of fiber (WOF), the color is a rich deep red on wool and the color is easily modified with calcium carbonate, iron or even unmordanted. You can reuse the dye bath and the sawdust until exhausted, creating lighter shades. For details on how to use the sawdust, please visit our how to page.

We were thrilled with the lovely red shades we achieved on cotton. We used it at 100% wof and had a very strong dye bath for additional shades.

Have you experimented with Sappanwood?

#deepred #india #japanesedyes #naturaldyes #naturaldye #botanicalcolors

We are really excited to welcome Arounna Khounnora

We are really excited to welcome Arounna Khounnoraj of @bookhou to our Seattle studio in September 2024.

We have been fangirls of Arounna and bookhou for a long time. I love how she combines approachable, simple, and elegant techniques to create a charming beauty in daily life. She’s generous with information and shares her knowledge in a number of lovely books, online workshops and in person experiences. We look forward to having her visit us in Seattle and I hope you can join us, too.

Arounna will be leading three workshops including 1-day block printing, 1-day clay resist and a 3-day surface design workshop that includes a plant-forward welcome dinner. We’ll also have a public book signing of her most popular books. You don’t want to miss this. Sign up to be notified when the workshop opens today April 11 at 12:00 PM Pacific, 3 PM Eastern.

#onlineworkshops #surfacedesign #blockprinting #workshops #naturaldye #naturaldyeworkshop

We had such a great response to John’s two works

We had such a great response to John’s two workshops that he’s graciously agreed to add a third workshop experience. We are thrilled to host our dear friend and natural dye collaborator in a rare in-person appearance and invite you to experience his humor and artistic expertise with Japanese textile and dye techniques.

Direct Painting with Natural Dyes and Pigments on Silk and Cotton Fabrics: Monday, June 17 and Tuesday June, 18,
10-4pm
Botanical Colors
503 S Michigan St, Ste B, Seattle, WA 98108

One of our most asked questions is how to use a natural dye or a pigment as a paint on textiles. While there are many methods, John is the OG of fresh soy milk application, having introduced it to us decades ago when he was creating his art-to-wear garments. It is the perfect medium to bind plant, insect and mineral pigments to fabrics. The results are lush, beautiful, classic techniques and colors. The imagery and colors are reminiscent of antique Japanese textiles that you can find hidden in a corner of John’s huge warehouse collection.

#paintingwithnaturaldyes #painting #naturaldyes #johnmarshalldyes #botanicalcolors #botanicalcolorsworkshop

We have some exciting news from our friends at @vi

We have some exciting news from our friends at @vibrantvalleyfarm . For today's #TakeoverTuesday, Kara shares with us her new creation, going live with us on Earth Day. Vibrant Valley Blue. VVF started growing Persicaria tinctoria in 2017 and has scaled their operation to produce a rich indigo paste that yields beautiful blue shades. Their indigo is a premium regional product from Sauvie Island, Oregon, and we’re honored to be able to share it with you. Please join us on Sunday April 21 at Botanical Colors studio in Seattle to meet Kara Gilbert of Vibrant Valley Farm.

We will have VVF Indigo and her amazing skincare products, along with beautiful flowers from VVF’s farm stand for sale. Shop the VVF goods as well as items from our stock - everything you need to get read for indigo season.

Photography by @island_farmstudio

#indigo #vibrantvalleyfarm #indigofarm #botanicalcolos #freshindigo

For this #Mordantmonday we take a deep dive into t

For this #Mordantmonday we take a deep dive into the world of Quebracho Moreno. We present not one, not two but THREE variations of mixing this wonderful tannin with other dyes to achieve a beautiful rainbow of color.

Head to our blog to read more! Which variation do you like the best? Tell us below 👇

Another Japanese Tradition dye we now carry is Jap

Another Japanese Tradition dye we now carry is Japanese Mugwort (Yomogi also called Artemesia)

Mugwort or Yomogi is prized as a medicinal tea and herb and is considered a spring tonic green after a long winter. It is also a foodstuff and eaten in both sweet and savory dishes. Yomogi gives a soft yellowish green on silk. The dyestuff can be extracted multiple times. Use at 300% wof.

Have you tried our Japanese Traditional dyestuffs yet? Do you grow your own? We love to hear about your relationships with the plants!

Guesssss what! WE HAVE ANOTHER JOHN MARSHALL CLASS

Guesssss what! WE HAVE ANOTHER JOHN MARSHALL CLASS! Sign up before it fills up! We know it will…

June 17th & 18th, 10-4PM in Seattle

John Marshall Teaches Japanese-Style Painting with Natural Dyes and Pigments
We had such a strong response to John’s workshops that he’s agreed to pull one more magical workshop out of the hat! This 2-day class focuses on working with an array of natural dye “juice” dyes, plant and mineral pigments, inks and more on silk fabrics to create painterly and watercolor effects.

Here are some little tidbits from sampling our sas

Here are some little tidbits from sampling our sashiko threads with our Traditional Japanese Dyes! Have you tried them yet? Tell us what you think of these colors!!!

#sashiko #naturaldye #naturaldyeing #naturaldyes #naturaldyestudio #botanicalcolors #japanesedyes #japan

Gosh do we have some exciting SAVE THE DATES for y

Gosh do we have some exciting SAVE THE DATES for you!

Up first, we go live next Thursday April 11th, with the inimitable Arounna Khounnoraj of @bookhou . Arounna is teaching not 1, not 2, but 3 workshops with us! Head to our stories for the link. She will be teaching in our Seattle studio in September 2024.
 
Arounna will be leading three workshops including 1-day block printing, 1-day clay resist and a 3-day surface design workshop that includes a plant-forward welcome dinner. We’ll also have a public book signing of her most popular books. You don’t want to miss this. Sign up to be notified when the workshop opens on April 11 at 12:00 PM Pacific, 3 PM Eastern.

Up second, We are thrilled to be able to share a new indigo pigment from @vibrantvalleyfarm Valley Farm. VVF started growing Persicaria tinctoria in 2017 and has scaled their operation to produce a rich indigo paste that yields beautiful blue shades. Their indigo is a premium regional product from Sauvie Island, Oregon, and we’re honored to be able to share it with you. Please join us on Sunday April 21 at Botanical Colors studio in Seattle to meet Kara Gilbert of Vibrant Valley Farm.
 
We will have VVF Indigo and her amazing skincare products, along with beautiful flowers from VVF’s farm stand for sale. Shop the VVF goods as well as items from our stock - everything you need to get read for indigo season.
 Sunday April 21 from 11-4. Botanical Colors, 503 S Michigan St, Ste B, Seattle WA 98108

Finally! We want you to join us in Georgetown, we are hosting an open house in our studio in honor of Earth Month. Join us for an afternoon indigo dip featuring bandanas and shibori! We’ll be at the vats from 2-4 PM in our studio parking lot and would love to see you. Stop by to say hi and try your hand and dip a triangular bandana for your Labradoodle or yourself. We will supply all materials. One bandana per person while supplies last. While you are in the neighborhood, check out @seattlerecreative_georgetown , basically our favorite place to pick up craft supplies, surplus and wonderful treasures. Register in our stories!

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