Kathy Hattori, Author at Botanical Colors

MORDANT MONDAY: How To Reuse A Tannin Bath

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’m wondering if its possible to reuse a tannin bath, perhaps by using half as much tannin powder the second time as one can do when re using a mordant bath? Recently I have made a tannin bath for linen and have lots left over, it would be great not to throw it out! Secondly, I usually rinse the fabric after mordanting and before dyeing- is this correct? KATHY ANSWERED: I think recharging and reusing tannin baths … Read more

Mordant Monday: Middle Mordant in Toronto

Thank you to Rachel MacHenry and Gitte Hansen of Contemporary Textile Studio Co-operative for the lovely photos! I taught a one day workshop on middle mordant using Japanese dyes in Toronto on Friday, and had a great time with the students. This was the first time we’d tried the technique using only Japanese dyes that we extracted, and we also had a side trip into kakishibu which didn’t require any mordant, but made a beautiful shade. I’ve written about middle mordanting before: Catharine Ellis has a nice recipe and procedure in her book and Studio Notes, and I’ve also seen … Read more

Mordant Monday: Make a Natural Dye Rainbow for Pride Month!

For this Mordant Monday, we are bringing back our Pride Rainbow! We love rainbows, color gradations, anything to show off the beauty and nuance of natural dyes. And now with our pre-mordanted bandanas, you can make a rainbow of your own! Materials Experience level Familiarity with using natural dye extracts, or using raw materials in an immersion dye bath, and with overdyeing colors. Familiarity with indigo and indigo over dyeing. A 6 pack of pre-mordanted bandanas Yellow Orange Red Green Blue or Indigo Purple Process In this rainbow, the “primary” colors of Yellow, Red and Blue along with Purple are … Read more

Mordant Monday: Ceriops Tagal (No Mordant Required!)

Pictured here is our drying line from our recent tour to The Threads of Life Bali. The black pieces are Ceriops overdyed in Indigo. Today, we’re taking a look at Ceriops Tagal, a “red” tannin from Indonesia, and a color that is rich in history and traditional use. We are excited to present it to you again as it was one of our favorite dyes to work with while we were at The Threads of Life Bali. At Botanical Colors, we recognize that the mangrove species is threatened due to widespread clearing of mangrove forests for timber, fish farming and … Read more

A Humble, Ingenious Leaf Mordant: Symplocos

The plant world contains species that draw alum from the soil and store them in their tissue – they’re referred to as alum accumulators or hyper accumulators. There’s a plant species called symplocos that is an alum accumulator and contains enough alum to be used as a plant-based mordant. We carry symplocos and are happy to have a new shipment arriving this week, so it’s a good time to review this mordant alternative with a great backstory. The Story of Symplocos In 2005 and 2006, The Bebali Foundation (a partner enterprise to Threads of Life that focuses on sustainable economic … Read more

Mordant Monday: Overdyeing: Indigo First, or Indigo Second?

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] YOU ASKED: Do you always dye indigo first before overdyeing with another color? Does it make any difference? KATHY ANSWERED: When I was starting out, I was advised to dye with indigo first, rinse, mordant my fabric, and then dye with a mordant color second in order to create any type of compound color when indigo is involved. We largely agree with this as most of our production colors start with an indigo shade that we dip. We seem … Read more

Mordant Monday: Does Indigo Damage Mordants

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] 2 light indigo dips on mordanted silk before immersing in exhaust dye baths to make pastels YOU ASKED: My question involves the processes of indigo dyeing when combined with other plant dyes that have been mordanted with aluminum acetate. My understanding is that citric acid discharges the mordant and also neutralizes the alkalinity of indigo as a last step in finishing indigo dyed cloth. How would you go about neutralizing indigo without discharging mordant? For some processes, I am … Read more

Mordant Monday: What is Dunging?

Cellulose fibers are the most common fiber that we start with as cotton fabric is readily available and affordable. However, cotton does not have the same affinity for natural dyes as protein fibers such as wool, so the cellulose mordant process is different to achieve good results. The mordant process for cellulose fibers includes pretreating with a tannin, then immersing the tannin treated fabric into an alum solution. This method is one of the earliest mordant methods for cellulose fibers and produces very good results. We use this method regularly as we also love to experiment with different tannins to … Read more

Mordant Monday: Nerd Week at Sanborn Mills Farm

I’m at the airport after teaching for 5 days at Sanborn Mills Farm in New Hampshire. Sanborn Mills Farm is a working organic farm and craft school specializing in traditional crafts such as blacksmithing, woodworking, basketry, kitchen and textile arts. We saw newborn lambs, massive draft horses and oxen and dormant grain fields just starting their spring activity. Sanborn Mills Farm is one of my favorite places to teach with a dye garden a few steps away and trails and farm animals to visit and observe. The weather was typical unsettled early spring and we encountered high winds, heavy rain, … Read more

Mordant Monday: Creating Color In Tucson

We used raw dyestuffs: cochineal insects, coreopsis flowers, marigolds, extracts and two indigo vats (henna and fructose). I was very impressed how beautiful the colors came out! I was fortunate to teach in Tucson, Arizona last month for the Tucson Handweavers and Spinners Guild. This was my first time in Arizona and it was a wonderful experience. The dramatic desert landscape really commands your attention and the light just before sunset is luminous. The swatches are from a number of different dye baths and we mixed and matched colors to create 4-color palettes with an indigo dip at the end. … Read more