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Carol Shaw-Sutton Art There are so many wonderful textile artists and natural inspiration around us daily, so much so that sometimes it's hard to settle and do our own work! When we first started the Botanical Colors Pinterest page, the idea was to savor what we loved most, give it a rest stop so we [...] Continue Reading

We love that our Pom-Pom and silk, metallic gauze shawls were posted on Wantful today! Our large and lightweight shawls are dyed in organic indigo, giving them a natural color incomparable to conventional dyes. Handwoven and hand tied, each shawl will have slight variations of blue, but all are completely beautiful and ready to cover [...] Continue Reading

We're getting excited with every registration for this September workshop! Learn the ancient art of Woad dyeing from master dyer Denise Simeon Lambert, founder of Bleu de Lectoure in Southwest France. Denise’s passion for traditional French Blue revitalized woad dyeing and cultivation in France and brought back the medieval techniques of the traditional woad vat, [...] Continue Reading

This is an easy to make, beautiful green.  I am including some guidelines – create your own version for a beautiful accent to your 2013 color palette. EMERALD On wool yarn, mordant with potassium aluminum sulfate.  You may use between 10-20% on the weight of the fiber. -Use 5% fustic and 5% Saxon Blue.  At […]

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Join us for a very special workshop this Fall in Seattle! Learn the ancient art of Woad dyeing from master dyer Denise Simeon Lambert, founder of Bleu de Lectoure in southwest France. Denise’s passion for traditional French Blue revitalized woad dyeing and cultivation in France and brought back the medieval techniques of the traditional woad […]

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In 2009 and 2010 I had the opportunity to study with natural dye master Michel Garcia.  He is a marvelous and knowledgeable teacher,  fascinated with using the chemistry of simple ingredients to create natural colors.  One of the things that he demonstrated to us was to be fearless about the indigo fermentation vat.  What a gift!  […]

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This past May, Botanical Colors was honored to host woad master Denise Lambert of Bleu de Lectoure for a weekend of woad dipping using the ancient blue dye of Europe that she and her husband revitalized in France.  She brought her charming assistant, Sophie Boss and they worked their woad magic in Seattle. We started […]

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I’m the guest blogger for the month at Cotton Clouds. Check out their new EZ Dye kits using a non-toxic pretreated cotton that takes natural dyes beautifully with no mordanting! The colors are so interesting – a slightly different palette than other natural dyes on cotton – these tones will go beautifully with most interior […]

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A good pair of scissors is a must for any craftsperson and a fine pair of handmade scissors is a very special pleasure.  No wonder we keep them safely tucked away and bring them out only for those times when we are mending or stitching. When I visited Paris in the early 1990’s, I was […]

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1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire. Although it wasn’t the first time the river burned, it became the symbol of the desperate condition of American waterways choked by pollution and spurred the passage of the Clean Water Act. A year later, 20 million Americans rallied on April 22 – the first Earth Day […]

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