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Easy Print Paste Thickener Tutorial

Designs and prints come to life with mordant printing using Botanical Colors Print Paste Thickener and this tutorial! If you don’t follow Arielle Toelke, Designer + Creator of Four Rabbit, you’re missing out! With a background in art, Arielle creates a line of goods that are both graphic and fun. We’ve been friends with her for years and also gotten to know her as one of our customers using our dyes and assists to make some pretty exciting, graphically pleasing surface designs. We asked Arielle to write an easy-to-use print paste thickener tutorial, sent her some of our print paste … Read more

Easy Eco-Printing Instructions

I’ll admit I am a latecomer to eco-printing, but now find it quite useful to extending dyestuffs that have had one life making a dyebath, but the bulky residue and stuff that gets strained out is still full of color. I prefer used dyestuffs for eco-printing as there’s usually so much dye left in the ingredients and to me, they aren’t quite ready for the compost pile. Plus, once you open your eyes to the amount of color that’s around us, this is a simple way to try out colors you’ve been curious about. Experiment with raw dyestuffs, or tannin-rich … Read more

MORDANT MONDAY: Post-Mordant Scouring?

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] YOU ASKED: Can you store and then reuse symplocos mordant, the way you can alum mordants? If it can be stored, do you need refrigerate it or add cloves to keep it from going off, as you must with plant based dyes? KATHY ANSWERED: Symplocos baths may be reused several times but it does contain plant matter and will probably start to ferment if left for long periods of time, like over 2 weeks in a warm environment. You … Read more

MORDANT MONDAY: Post-Mordanting Cotton

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] I recently used Logwood and cochineal on old cotton sheets as blankets to put over watercolor paper when eco printing books. The cotton blankets came out so amazing I decided to sew them together and make a kimono. I had no intention of making a garment or I would have taken more pre-care with the fabric. Since these were very old sheets, I didn’t scour as I’ve laundered them for literally years. I did not mordant either. Anyway, here’s … Read more

You Asked, Kathy Answered: Tannin Printing

We get lots of emails from customers about challenges with dyeing and needing Botanical Colors’ President Kathy Hattori’s help. Why not share the learning so we can all benefit? From our inboxes to you, it’s simple: You Asked, Kathy Answered. Email [email protected] with your plea for help! YOU ASKED: I’m considering adding a tannin to my order. But I have a question: does it make sense to tannin bathe an alum + washing soda print prior to dye bath? What I mean is scour > tannin bath > dry fabric > print pattern with mordant paste > dry > wheat … Read more

Natural Dye and Printing/Surface Design Workshop

Have you ever wanted to learn to print with natural dyes? This is a singular opportunity to study the art of creative screen printing and dyeing with 100% non-toxic natural inks, dyes, fabrics and extract from experts in the fields, Kathy Hattori, president of Botanical Colors and textiles design and development specialist Lydia Wendt, founder of California Cloth Foundry. Dye California Cloth Foundry’s “sustainably grown to sewn in America ” fabrics and garments with Kathy Hattori using organically certified natural dyes to achieve a rich background color for printing. With the guidance of Lydia Wendt, use simple tools to achieve … Read more

MORDANT MONDAY: Cloudy Mordant & Eco Printing Fabric

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] YOU ASKED: I think I purchased the wrong mordant, according to the chart on your website. I have a cotton tea towel and I purchased aluminum potassium sulfate. I plan on eco printing some flowers on it, do I need to purchase a different mordant? Also, this is my first time! KATHY ANSWERED: You can also use aluminum potassium sulfate on cellulose fibers for eco printing. The best technique is to try to traditional tannin-alum mordant which uses aluminum … Read more

MORDANT MONDAY: Alum From The Supermarket To Eco Print?

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] YOU ASKED: I teach kids paper making and am starting an eco print enrichment this week. We are using cotton fabric. I bought alum at the grocery store thinking it was all I needed to soak the fabrics and have them bond with the flower dye, but as I read more into the topic I only find myself more confused at the minute differences. I just want the pigment from the flower petals to bond with the fiber for learning … Read more

Thanksgiving Day Natural Dyeing With Food Waste

Image: Vogue This Thanksgiving Day, why not do what you love and natural dye with food waste while you cook up your mid-day feast? According to Vogue, “With so many color-rich foods on most Thanksgiving menus, Vogue.com decided to get a lesson in natural food coloring, and create a set of eco-chic napkins that can be made in tandem with the holiday meal. As it turns out, the palette procured from turkey-day cuisine is very seventies: Cranberries produce a range of colors from poppy to dusty rose, onion skins tone silk lime and ochre, beet stalks boil into muted moss, … Read more

MORDANT MONDAY: Do I Need To Re-Mordant To Eco Print?

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] YOU ASKED: I have scoured the internet trying to find an answer to this question, with no luck other than to ask you 🙂 I am dyeing my fabric (scoured and mordanted with tara tannin, aluminum acetate, chalk bath) and want to eco print flowers onto the fabric afterwards. Do I re-mordant or is the previous mordant still viable after the fabric has been dyed as the water reaches 180 degrees. I use your plant extracts to dye and … Read more