Blog

Many long time indigo dyers have been curious about the liquid indigo that I sell that works like an immersion dye.  How can it possibly work that way?  Traditional vatted indigo is not water soluble and it’s created through a complex set of steps and careful dipping, not in an immersion dye pot.  Our liquid […]

Boston artist Deena Schnitman creates works on paper using the age old technique of paste paper. She writes: “Paste paper dates back to the late sixteenth century when it was widely used by bookbinders in Europe for endpapers and bookcovers. The process has changed little and remains simple. A paste is cooked, colored with paint […]

Botanical Colors is offering a new line of liquid natural dyes that are perfectly suited for immersion dyeing, printing and painting.  The colors are saturated and beautiful and the color line includes an indigo that does not require the traditional vat process.  This means you can add this indigo (Saxon Blue) right into your dyepot along […]

Having been unpleasantly surprised to discover that Logwood Grey, one of the workhorse dyes of the natural dye palette is a synthetic dye, I have been experimenting with alternatives that don’t use this color.  I’ve also stopped offering it for sale on the site. If you still want to use Logwood, make your own Logwood […]

            Welcome to the first Botanical Colors palette formulated for natural dyes.  These different color ideas were gleaned from trend forecasts, publications and presentations I attended over the past few months and represent my interpretation of the trends.  Use these colors as ideas for a direction; they are not edicts […]

Once in a great while a book about natural dyeing comes along that completely changes my perspective on creating color and Eco Colour: Botanical Dyes for Beautiful Textiles by India Flint has my mind buzzing with the possibilities of using natural dyes in a whole new way.  Ms. Flint is an Australian artist who collects […]

I have a friend who leaves Seattle annually and wanders the globe for months, eluding the dark, cold and gray of the Pacific Northwest for as long as she can.  Her countries of choice are usually sunny, Mediterranean and are situated well below the 47th parallel.  This year, she chose Istanbul and generously invited me […]

I love lacquer and have been fortunate to receive lacquered bowls, chopsticks and bento boxes from my relatives in Japan over the years.  And I was so pleased to learn that lac dye is derived from shellac, which I assumed was where lacquer came from.  It was a very nice tie-in with the beautiful lac […]

My weakness for beautiful tools was sorely tested these past few days, and I finally succumbed to the charms of these vintage needlework treasures.  The objets of my desire were  lovely  tools for sewing, stitching and lacemaking from a French company called Sajou.  Maison Sajou was founded in 1828 and was well known as a […]

When you read about Cyber Monday, one thinks of people glued to their computers, madly clicking away and purchasing plasma screen TV sets and oodles of electronica that are ON SALE for Cyber Monday through all the major retailers. Instead, why not celebrate Cyber Monday with a handmade gift?  There are some wonderful sites out […]