Learning: Recipes, Instructions & More - Page 7 of 8

How To: The Mason Jar Method for Solar Dyeing

We’ve put together this easy Mason jar method for solar dyeing! Use these tips all summer long for a fun, energy and water-saving way to create color! The jars featured here are filled with our fruitwood chips (apple, cherry and peach) and on sale until next week! Equipment and ingredients for the Mason jar method for solar dyeing: -1 wide-mouth, 32 ounce (1 quart) glass Mason Jar with lid. You can also use any heat-resistant large glass jar. If your fiber doesn’t fit easily into the jar, you can use a wide mouth 64 ounce (2 quart) jar or larger … Read more

Q & A: Round Up of Scouring + Mordanting 101

Mordanting and scouring should be at the top of your things-to-do list before natural dyeing. Botanical Colors Founder Kathy Hattori recently took on as many questions as was humanly possible to clarify the processes. Before reading, also please see our How-To Scour and How-To Mordant pages. Scouring Questions If I use untreated and unbleached fabric, is it a must to scour the fabric or is washing it enough? If you mean by “untreated” that it has never been scoured, then you should scour. If untreated and unbleached means it is also prepared for dyeing (PFD or RFD), then you can … Read more

How To Make Your Own Signature Black Natural Dye

Want to know how to make your very own signature black natural dye? Here’s a really good black recipe from Kathy to send you into tannin and iron experiments all day…or maybe, for the rest of your life. Black with gallo tannin, iron and logwood is a historical recipe from Europe and creates a warm black. Prior to the introduction of logwood to Europe, black was achieved through multiple baths of tannin and iron, or by overdyeing with madder, weld and woad. The basic rule of thumb with this recipe is that you can dye and continue overdyeing to achieve … Read more

How To Dye With Marigold Flowers

Ever wondered how to dye with marigold flowers? The humble marigold makes a beautiful and easy color that captures summer even when the weather is cold and gray. They brighten flower borders and are a companion plant in organic gardening. Marigold (Tagetes erecta) is native to Central America. Shop organically grown marigold flowers here. The Aztecs used it as a flavoring ingredient for cacao. In Mexico, marigolds are also referred to as “Flor de Muertos” (Flowers of the Dead) and used in the Dia de los Muertos festivals and ceremonies. The deeply scented and brightly colored flower is believed to … Read more

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Usually for our Mordant Monday, we dive into a mordant topic, alas we’re in Bali and we have no idea what day it is! For this week’s blog post, we are changing it up as we’re feeling so nourished and inspired by our time in Bali, we needed to share it with you all. We’re drawing on the end of our trip and are gobsmacked by the kindness, patience and extensive knowledge the Threads of Life and their team are so graciously bestowing upon us. Here we share with you the process of learning about Morinda Roots and how they … Read more

Easy Eco-Printing Instructions

I’ll admit I am a latecomer to eco-printing, but now find it quite useful to extending dyestuffs that have had one life making a dyebath, but the bulky residue and stuff that gets strained out is still full of color. I prefer used dyestuffs for eco-printing as there’s usually so much dye left in the ingredients and to me, they aren’t quite ready for the compost pile. Plus, once you open your eyes to the amount of color that’s around us, this is a simple way to try out colors you’ve been curious about. Experiment with raw dyestuffs, or tannin-rich … Read more

RECIPE: Living Coral, Pantone Color of the Year 2019

This year’s Pantone Color of the Year is a bright and lively coral shade called Living Coral (Pantone 16-1546). It’s a mid-tone shade and the natural dye version of it is very popular and easy. We like how madder extract will give you a beautiful shade.

We are teaming up with the Woods Hole Film Festival on Cape Cod to support their Science & Film Initiative and donating $5 for every madder extract order. This summer, the festival will formally launch the Woods Hole Film Festival Film and Science Initiative. The goal of the initiative is to provide opportunities to connect filmmakers and scientists to help them create films and other visual media that improve the public’s understanding of ocean science.

To see a current short film they’ve created on coral, go here and enter password nlp123.

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

This week: Bundle dyeing with zinnia flowers and a spotlight on, and recipe for, versatile wattle dye.

Easy and Fun DIY Indigo Dyed Easter Eggs

Here’s a fun way to do some easy DIY indigo-dyed Easter eggs! 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. The ancient Egyptians, Persians, Phoenicians, and Hindus all believed the world began with an enormous egg, thus the egg as a symbol of new life has been around for eons.” I have always … Read more

blue yarn over an indigo vat in a white bucket

DIY Ombre Yarn!

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 mention try not to drool from her beautiful pictures)! Image: Scissor Variations