Video From LIVE FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Rowland Ricketts

This week’s FEEDBACK FRIDAY was with Rowland Ricketts where we talked all things indigo. Watch the video recording here: Shop all our indigo here. Visit our vast amount of indigo pages and how-tos. Make a 1-2-3 fructose indigo vat. Make a 1-2-3 henna indigo vat. Make a 1-2-3 Shakealotta indigo vat. Make a 1-2-3 iron indigo vat. Rowland Ricketts creates immersive installations using handwoven and hand-dyed cloth. His holistic artistic practice begins on his farm, where he cultivates the indigo plants he uses to color his artwork, fully linking his material and process with the finished product. Ricketts often incorporates … Read more

Video From LIVE FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Debbie Bamford

This week’s FEEDBACK FRIDAY was with The Mulberry Dyer’s Debbie Bamford who talked about all things Turkey Red. Watch the video recording here: Here are some things that Deb mentioned in her talk: The Dyer’s Company This is where Deb got her degree from, The Society of Dyers and Colorists TORM: The Original Reenactors Market That hood she wore has a tail and it is called a Liripipe Deb didn’t recommend this, but here is a reenactment pattern site Here are some links about turkey red that our co-host Brece Honeycutt used to learn more about it: West Dunbartonshire Council … Read more

Video From LIVE FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Melonie Ancheta

This week’s FEEDBACK FRIDAY was with pigment artist Melonie Ancheta. Melonie addressed what we can learn about cultures through the lens of pigments and what the study of pigments reveals about history and cultures. Watch the video recording here: Read Melonie’s FEEDBACK FRIDAY responses to all chat questions. About Melonie Ancheta has been studying pigments for more than 40 years, (traditional native pigments for more than 25), to analyze and properly identify pigments, and to assist museums, conservators, collectors, artists and scholars to determine the materials, tools and techniques used in traditional Native American paints. This information is used in … Read more

Video From LIVE FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Tali Weinberg

This week’s FEEDBACK FRIDAY was with weaver and climate activist Tali Weinberg. Tali is an artist who utilizes weaving, sculpture, thread drawing, and works on paper to visualize climate data. Tali presented her recent work responding to intertwined climate and health crises and talked about grief, water, oil, place, and weaving as text. Check out Tali’s website here. Watch the video recording here: ABOUT TALI: Tali Weinberg draws on a history of weaving as a subversive language for women and marginalized groups to create a feminist, material archive in response to worsening climate crisis. Her works merge practices of record … Read more

Seven swatches of blue fabric from very pale on the left to dark navy blue on the right

A Deep Dive into the 1-2-3 Indigo Vat

Indigo gradation from Aboubakar Fofana’s workshop on indigo.  The vat is a 7gpl fructose vat. Diving into indigo blue We have been working with the 1-2-3 indigo vat for nearly 10 years and over time made some adjustments to the original recipe from Michel Garcia. Here we share a recent experiment where we set up 4 different types of 1-2-3 vats and present the results. New instructions are linked below for each vat type with hints for a successful indigo vat!  You can also search our blog posts for information on indigo vats and answers to your many questions. Our … Read more

Video From LIVE FEEDBACK FRIDAY: 1-2-3 Indigo Vat

This week’s FEEDBACK FRIDAY was on the famous 1-2-3 indigo vat! Presenting this week? The best of the best, Botanical Colors Founder/President Kathy Hattori joined by Botanical Colors’ team member Kate Rosendale. Watch the video recording here: We get more questions about indigo than any other dye, so we decided to update our online information and also do a deep dive into the variations of the recipe based on Michel Garcia’s 1-2-3 indigo vat. we did some pretty extensive experiments with  fructose, henna and iron that you won’t want to miss. Botanical Colors’ team member Kate Rosendale and Kathy tested … Read more

Video From LIVE FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Lani Estill

This week’s FEEDBACK FRIDAY was with fiber artist and rancher, Lani Estill. Lani Estill and her family own and operate Bare Ranch, a vertically integrated diversified livestock operation producing cattle, sheep, alfalfa and grass hay. The ranch is in Northeastern California and Northwest Nevada. They practice regenerative agriculture and with the help of partners like Fibershed and Carbon Cycle Institute are now operating under a Carbon Farm Plan. Lani is also the founder of Lani’s Lana ~ Fine Rambouillet Wool, a commercial wool business and small yarn line. Watch the video recording here: We talked about a lot of exciting … Read more

Video From LIVE FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Kristin Arzt

This week’s FEEDBACK FRIDAY was with Kristin Arzt of Scrambles Quilts. Watch the video recording here: Kristin Arzt is a natural dyer, educator, gardener and designer based in Oakland, California. Kristin believes that by exploring the collision of textiles, plants and sustainability, she can help make the study of natural dyes accessible to everyone through education and enthusiasm. She is the Textiles Department Head at The Crucible, a non-profit organization dedicated to making arts education accessible to local youth and the surrounding community. We sell Kristin’s *Instant* Natural Indigo + Shibori Kit on our site. The kit includes all of … Read more

Video From LIVE FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Madame Magar

This week’s FEEDBACK FRIDAY was with Leigh Magar of Madame Magar. Leigh talked about all things indigo from her work as an indigo artist, designer, farmer and educator on issues surrounding indigo’s origins. Watch the video recording here: Madame Magar is a textile design studio inspired by art, nature, folkways and history. The studio embraces a “seed to stitch” design philosophy that explores the history, a rich yet tangled past of place; while living and working on a former indigo plantation. The “seed to stitch” vision is inspired by Eliza Lucas Pinckney; who as a young girl in the 1740’s … Read more