Learning: Recipes, Instructions & More

About Food says that “Easter falls in the spring, the yearly time of renewal, when the earth renews itself after a long, cold winter. The word Easter comes to us from the Norsemen’s Eostur, Eastar, Ostara and Ostar and the pagan goddess Eostre all of which include the season of the growing sun and rebirth. […]

We love this article by Scissor Variations on how to DIY dye yarn at home. Though the author suggests Dylon dyes, we’ll direct you here to all of our natural dyes that will help achieve the same results with much less toxicity. Check out the step by step process here and have fun (not to […]

Indigo has a long standing history of heavy-duty power in terms of economics and trade and is probably one of the most talked and written about dyes in the natural dye world. We love the color blue and all its moodiness. It’s also very in for fall 14. Get ready for the navy explosion! For […]

This past Saturday I taught a natural dye workshop in the backyard of my friend’s Cyd and Neal’s vintage store – The Grand Street Bakery. A vintage store set in a converted old bakery, fully equipped with awesome vintage threads hanging on repurposed baking racks, stocked with natural apothecary, magazines and generally some of the […]

Like I’ve said before, working for a natural dye guru like Kathy Hattori can give one an inferiority complex. I hate inferiority complexes for me or anyone else, so when feeling less than, I say take on the thing that most scares you (unless it’s skiing). In this particular case, I accepted the challenge of […]

Working for a natural dye guru can give a social media director and consultant (that’s me) an inferiority complex. In fact, when people ask me who I work for and I tell them, Kathy Hattori, a “natural dye guru,” and they say “Oh, you must be really good at dyeing,” all I can do is […]

It’s so easy to brighten up your underthings with lush natural dye colors like cochineal, lac and madder. Materials Any natural fiber underthings – socks, camisoles or panties.  Look for 100% cotton, Modal, Tencel, silk or bamboo fiber content. Fiber blends like wool/cotton or silk/cotton or nylon also work well.  Microfiber, polyester and acrylic will […]

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!  […]

There’s a whole new range of colors that I am getting from the Aquarelle liquid natural dyes.  Brilliant madder red, rust, olive green, a lovely soft pink, periwinkle and a whole host of blue shades that are soft and inviting.     Persian Tile: 15-20% Aluminum Sulfate, 8% Liquid Indigo/Saxon Blue         Cornflower […]

1. It’s supposed to rub off. That’s why blue jeans fade. 2. Certain cultures attribute indigo crocking to its authenticity and prize the way that excess indigo comes off on the hands or body. I found a description from Duncan Clarke  of Adire African Textiles on how West African cultures dye and prepare indigo cloth: […]