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MORDANT MONDAY: How Is Gall Nut Extract Different Than Ground?

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] YOU ASKED: If I am using whole oak galls as a mordant, how is the gall nut extract used differently than the ground oak galls? Does the ground have to be heated for a certain amount of time or can it be added directly to hot water? KATHY ANSWERED: Gall nut extract, which we call gallo-tannin, is dissolved in near boiling hot water and then added to the dye pot or the mordant tub (it is a low -temperature mordant, … Read more

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Indigo Painting + Indigo Vats

This week: Indigo painting and temperamental indigo vats

Indigo Topography

Carrie Crawford, a new Botanical Colors customer wrote to us: “My husband, Jonathan contacted you in October for some basic indigo information and we shortly thereafter ordered supplies for a 1-2-3 vat. I have been experimenting and having a wonderful time with my vat…what a beautiful experience….I am forever in love with indigo…. I will be having an open studio the first 2 weekends of may — primarily focusing on a series of panels measuring 24 x 43…indigo on cotton…that were born of the indigo and guidance from you!!” Check out her wonderful site and blog and seriously fall in … Read more

Accidental Indigo

I grew indigo this year. Well, truthfully, the indigo grew itself. The most successful plant is a volunteer that established itself in the garlic bed and has spread so much that it is threatening to overtake the front walkway. It’s bloomed and I am hoping I can gather some seeds from it. The first batch of indigo seedlings I raised were a failure because I went on a trip and forgot to water them. The second batch was for a demonstration at Seattle Tilth’s Harvest Festival yesterday and in my rush to get out the door, I forgot them on … Read more

A spoon of yellow powder on a stack of bright yellow and green fabrics and yarn

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

This week: How do you know when to scour and when dyeing fleece, how can you get a deep green?

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

This week: Storing indigo from the colder weather, getting grays on protein fibers and indigo soap making

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

This week: Let’s talk indigo…

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

This week: scouring, reducing, hydrating and are fresh flowers better than dry flowers for natural dyeing?

MORDANT MONDAY: Indigo & Discharging Mordants

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] YOU ASKED: My question involves the processes of indigo dyeing when combined with other plant dyes that have been mordanted with aluminum acetate. My understanding is that citric acid discharges the mordant and also neutralizes the alkalinity of indigo as a last step in finishing indigo dyed cloth. How would you go about neutralizing indigo without discharging mordant? For some processes, I am wanting to use indigo on top of other colors rather than underneath. Can vinegar be used … Read more

Sea Island Indigo Retreat Recap!

We had so much fun at the first Sea Island Indigo retreat in Charleston last week. Check out the post Heather Powers wrote up on the event as well as some wonderful images she took of our weekend picking, dyeing and eating well on the farm. More here… Image of Kathy Hattori by Heather K. Powers