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.
Pantone writes of this year’s Living Coral:
In reaction to the onslaught of digital technology and social media increasingly embedding into daily life, we are seeking authentic and immersive experiences that enable connection and intimacy. Sociable and spirited, the engaging nature of PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral welcomes and encourages lighthearted activity. Symbolizing our innate need for optimism and joyful pursuits, PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral embodies our desire for playful expression.
Representing the fusion of modern life, PANTONE Living Coral is a nurturing color that appears in our natural surroundings and at the same time, displays a lively presence within social media.
PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral emits the desired, familiar, and energizing aspects of color found in nature. In its glorious, yet unfortunately more elusive, display beneath the sea, this vivifying and effervescent color mesmerizes the eye and mind. Lying at the center of our naturally vivid and chromatic ecosystem, PANTONE Living Coral is evocative of how coral reefs provide shelter to a diverse kaleidoscope of color.
Here’s how to achieve PANTONE’s Living Coral using natural dyes:
For cotton or cellulose fibers:
Scour and mordant fabric using aluminum acetate and calcium carbonate as a post-bath.
Weigh and dissolve .5% (one half of a percent) of madder extract in hot water, stirring well to dissolve the dye.
Add dissolved dye to a dye pot filled with enough room temperature water so fibers move easily, and let saturate for 10 minutes.
Gradually bring the heat up to 145F, rotating the goods carefully and constantly to avoid uneven dye marks. Hold for 30-45 minutes, then let the fibers cool enough so you can safely handle them. Rinse well in room temperature water and dry away from direct sunlight.
For wool or silk fibers
Scour fabric if needed, then mordant in 15% aluminum sulfate.
Weigh and dissolve .5% madder extract in hot water, stirring well to dissolve the dye.
Add dissolved dye to a dye pot filled with enough room temperature water so fibers move easily, and let saturate for 10 minutes.
Gradually bring the heat up to 145F, rotating the goods carefully and constantly to avoid uneven dye marks. Hold for 30-45 minutes, then let the fibers cool enough so you can safely handle them. Rinse well in room temperature water and dry away from direct sunlight.