Blog - Page 9 of 60 - Botanical Colors

You Asked, Kathy Answered: The pH of Indigo

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 questions@botanicalcolors with your plea for help! YOU ASKED: I set up an indigo vat a few weeks ago using fructose and lime. I dyed a few cotton items which worked well and now I want to dye some wool and silk. I’m having trouble lowering the pH. I’ve added more fructose but the pH is still 10.9. I tried … Read more

MORDANT MONDAY: How Do You Get That Really Red Cochineal?

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 sending a picture of cotton yarn dyed in cochineal and an exhaust bath of madder. I mordanted this with aluminum triformate but have gotten the same bad results using tannin, then alum with a bit of soda ash. I scoured this yarn very carefully and for at least an hour (boiling). Is there some special trick to dying cotton with cochineal? I get beautiful results with wool. KATHY ANSWERED: From what I can see in the … Read more

Video From FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Hannah Regier

Last week on FEEDBACK FRIDAY we had a beautiful presentation with fiber artist/land conservationist Hannah Regier. Hannah shared her practice and the evolution of her work from functional to fine art; and showed her latest project, Landcestors which was supported by a creation grant from the Vermont Arts Council. Watch the recording below. Website Instagram Hannah’s Nonprofit conservation organization, Bull Creek Common Lands About Hannah:Hannah Regier is a fiber artist and land conservationist whose work explores the profound possibilities of natural dyes and fibers to bring people into meaningful, reciprocal, relationship with the land. Hannah grows and forages dye and … Read more

Sunday Visit: Botanical Colors’ Lead Dyer, Kentaro Kojima

For this week’s Sunday Visit we catch up with Kentaro Kojima, Botanical Colors’ Lead Production Dyer. Kentaro is the color magician behind many of the projects we do with fashion brands and he’s also multi-talented. In addition to being born into a textile and dye family, he has carved his own artistic niche as a stone sculptor, educator and curator. We’re so proud to have someone as talented and kind as Kentaro on our team. Let’s learn more about him… Can you tell me a bit about your background as an artist and how you landed at Botanical Colors?I am … Read more

You Asked, Kathy Answered: Oak Tannins On Cotton

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 questions@botanicalcolors with your plea for help! YOU ASKED: I am curious about some results I’ve been having using oak as my tannin bath for cotton fibers. As far as my experimentation goes I first tried freshly fallen oak leaf— still green, as a pre-mordant tannin bath at around 50% WoF. I found the fibers turned a dark purple color, … Read more

MORDANT MONDAY: Hair Dyeing, Dog Toys & Sticky Angora

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] (Image: The Dogwood Dyer) YOU ASKED: Hi there! I’m interested in your products, particularly the cochineal, and I’m wondering if I can use it for dyeing my hair. If so, do the same instructions work that are listed here? I’ve seen The Dogwood Dyer’s instructions here and it sounds like she’s putting the alum directly in the dye. I’d like to achieve a pink color like what she did. I’d so appreciate if you could help me understand exactly how … Read more

Video From FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Textile Artist Youngmin Lee

Last FEEDBACK FRIDAY we welcomed textile artist, Youngmin Lee. Youngmin talked about her practice using Korean textile traditions that include bojagi and her ultimate journey to find happiness. It was one of those magical presentations that we got lots of messages about that it was “one of our best.” Watch the recording below. About Youngmin Lee Website Facebook Instagram: @youngminlee_bojagi & @koreantextiletour Email: [email protected] Youngmin Lee is a textile artist using bojagi tradition and techniques to create her work. Her interest in textiles led her to study clothing and textile in college and she received an MFA in Fashion Design in South … Read more

Sunday Visit: Hannah Regier’s Vermont Landcestors

For this week on Sunday Visit, we spend some time with Vermont-based fiber artist/land conservationist Hannah Regier. Hannah is a second generation professional craftsperson, a small scale homesteader, and “a third or more generation fiber worker.” She says her work is not about any “virtuosity of technique or adherence to current fashions” but more towards exploring how she can be of service to the natural materials she works with and the environment. Hannah will be sharing her practice and the evolution of her work this week on FEEDBACK FRIDAY focusing on her latest project, Landcestors which was supported by a creation … Read more

You Asked, Kathy Answered: Ceriops Mold?

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 questions@botanicalcolors with your plea for help! YOU ASKED: I’ve prepared my Ceriops and it is currently maturing in the storage vat (soon it will be a month!) It has some mold forming on the top of the liquid. Should I keep checking and removing it during the month, or leave it and scoop it all off at the end … Read more

MORDANT MONDAY: Will Mordant Affect Indigo Dyeing?

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 use aluminum triformate as my mordant for cellulose and silk. I am planning to dye linen with weld and was told that I didn’t need to use a tannin before dyeing if using potassium triformate.If I do need to use a tannin and have already mordanted the linen, do I go back and use tannin and remordant? KATHY ANSWERED: I have concentrated on using a tannin pretreat with aluminum sulfate and haven’t done so as frequently … Read more