Kathy is currently creating magic at Sanborn Mills for her Nerd’s Guide to Mordants workshop. We decided to give you a little taste into all of the beautiful mordant variations she is creating for this workshop and some of the key considerations you should take into account when beginning to mordant. For all of you budding mordant nerds out there, here are some highlights of what is covered during the class. We are working on bringing this class to you in online form, so here is a little teaser while you wait! What is a Mordant? A mordant is a … Read more
Today for Mordant Monday we thought we would bring a classic back from the vault and highlight one of our YouTube videos where Kathy answers your mordanting Questions!
Have fun with our video below. Don’t forget to Like, Comment & Subscribe!
This week: Weeks worth of mordanting questions melded into one FEEDBACK FRIDAY!
Watch here.
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 [email protected] with your plea for help! YOU ASKED: I would like to purchase your ink dyes to paint on fabric. Will these last and stay on natural fabrics? How do they work on recycled fabrics or synthetics? Judi Pettite from BioHue (who makes our inks! ANSWERED: The inks work well on fabric. They can be painted on, or use the … Read more
Today’s Sunday Visit is with natural dyer and specialist of non-toxic natural dyeing techniques and bio-regional, regenerative textile systems, Babs Behan. Babs is the author of one of the newest books in our book store, Botanical Dyes: Plant To Print Dyes, Techniques & Projects. She is also the author of Botanical Inks Plant-To-Print Dyes, Techniques and Projects Founder of Botanical Inks non-toxic natural dye studio and the Bristol Cloth Project. Babs tells us she is committed to the transformation of our textile industry and the possibility of global environmental and cultural regeneration, inspired by her own connection with nature. “I … Read more
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! Thanks to Amy Tucker Studio for this week’s questions! YOU ASKED: I was instructing an eco printing workshop this weekend, and I was using logwood for the carrier blankets and I had a strange occurrence. I attached some photos to show what it looked like and what happened. I extracted the color from … Read more
The world has been taken yet again by the effervescent hue of pink. Gretta Gerwig’s new feminist take on Barbie has taken the media by storm. The paint used for the movie set even put a run on the world’s supply! We wanted to bring you some recipes for creating the color in a natural and harmonious way. Kassia St. Clair, in The Secret Lives of Color takes us on a journey through how the color came to be named in modern times. “The first reference in the Oxford English Dictionary being used to describe pale reds is the late … Read more
Fun Facts about the Fustic in our Botanical Colors’ Beginner Dye Kit: Fustic (Chlorophora tinctoria or Maclura tinctoria) is a tall tropical hardwood that grows from Mexico to Argentina. Fustic is high in tannic acid, which makes it an ideal cotton dye. In fact, it was used in the military to dye the color khaki during World War I. On cotton, it will dye a clear gold and on silk and wool it will dye gold to brown-gold. Fustic also provides a good base for other colors: indigo overdyed with fustic creates a khaki green; combined with madder and cochineal to make oranges; and mixed with … Read more
Use your gallo tannin + iron to get some deep & dark shades of black! You can substitute the gallo tannin with other tannins in the future and dark extracts to make a variety of dark hues. 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 … Read more
SAFETY We offer common sense safety advice for the new natural dyer. The materials are derived from natural sources and are considered non-toxic but powders can be irritating so a few simple rules are part of a good dye practice. NOTE: The one ingredient we want you to pay special attention to is Iron powder (ferrous sulfate). Keep away from young children and pets. It is the same ingredient that is found in iron pills for anemia and it is not safe for small bodies. Please read the safety and use information about ferrous sulfate below prior to use. When … Read more
These instructions are for wool or silk. This color is trickier to achieve on cotton or linen. If available, use filtered, distilled or reverse osmosis water for the dye bath. MATERIALS CLICK HERE for our post on setting up your dye studio. PROCEDURE Different Shades For rich reds with an orange base, omit the calcium carbonate in the dye bath. How can I get a different red? Madder and cochineal are the 2 historic reds that react differently when mixed with a mild acid such as cream of tartar. Madder loses its red shade and shifts to orange, and cochineal moves from a magenta … Read more
Botanical Colors
Seattle, WA
© Botanical colors 2024