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Celebrate Juneteenth Through The Stories of 8 Black Natural Dye Artists

This year, as we celebrate and honor the (now federally recognized) Juneteenth holiday, we look back on the stories eight black, natural dye artists have shared with us. As we all continue to learn and grow from these stories, we urge you to reach out within your regional natural dye and fiber communities to usher in more diversity. If we have learned anything from FEEDBACK FRIDAY, it’s that we can tell so many stories through natural dyeing that gather more people, not always our choir, to get a little closer to us to just listen…and hopefully sing. About Juneteenth: From … Read more

MORDANT MONDAY: Whey As A Mordant?

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] YOU ASKED: I started reading India Flint’s book Eco Colour. She mentioned that whey could be used as a mordant but didn’t say how. I do make cheese on occasion and am always looking for something to do with the whey. Have you ever used it? If so, how? KATHY ANSWERED: Whey is usually acidic and contains protein and minerals. It might be considered one of those ingredients that helps dye molecules attract to fibers, like casein (milk protein), … Read more

MORDANT MONDAY: Fresh Rhubarb For Mordanting Wool?

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] YOU ASKED: I use fresh rhubarb leaf for pre-mordanting wool, and I’m wondering if it can be used dried, and if so, what is the ratio of dried leaf to WOF? KATHY ANSWERED: Since you are already using the fresh leaves, do you have a percentage or weight that you are using? If so, I would use about half as much with dried leaves and see if you like the results! YOU ASKED: Kakishibu Japanese persimmon dye is used with … Read more

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

This week: Can you make big batches of iron mordant to store and how to get a light teal with our dyes.

Clothing to Dye For: The Guardian Features Botanical Colors

A Closer Look at the History of Cochineal

According to The Advocate, “The prickly pear cactus was a scourge in outback regions of Australia until the Cactoblastus moth was introduced in 1926 as a biological method to eradicate this introduced plant pest. A consignment of 3,000 Cactoblastus moth eggs reproduced and the next generation numbered in excess of two and a half million eggs. These were distributed to selected areas from which eggs were gathered and scattered over an increasing area until about 300 million moth eggs had been successfully translocated. By 1932 most of the infested country had been reduced to soggy masses of decaying yellow pulp and by 1934 the cactus had been brought under control. This cactus was first introduced into Australia in the early … Read more

Video From LIVE FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Zapotec Textile Artist + Natural Dyer Porfirio Gutíerrez

Last week on FEEDBACK FRIDAY we had Zapotec textile artist, natural dyer, researcher, educator Porfirio Gutíerrez. Porfirio talked about his educational and artistic work now based in his Ventura, California studio and gave us a tour. Watch the video recording below: Some of the dyes that Porfirio talked about that we sell: Oak galls Pericón Cochineal Porfirio Gutíerrez is known internationally for his exceptional devotion to the textile traditions of his home pueblo of Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, a richly historic Zapotec textile artist community. His mission has been reinvigorating and preserving natural dyeing techniques for future generations both in … Read more

MORDANT MONDAY: Alum + Tannin & Line Fade

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] YOU ASKED: I live in India and where I live there is a lot of rust in the water. When I have tried to do a tannin-alum procedure before dyeing I noticed as soon as I put my fabric in the alum after the oak gall soak my fabric turns grey!!! The alum I have is alum sulfate for cotton because I don’t have alum acetate. I am trying symplocos now. Any suggestions how to avoid staining all material grey?? KATHY … Read more

Kathy Hattori holding a skein of yarn over a pot

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

Botanical Colors a Featured Voice on Fashion Traceability

Botanical Colors founder Kathy Hattori was recently interviewed by the New York City based apparel production and ethical design facility, Brooklyn Fashion+Design Accelerator on natural dyes and color in the fashion industry. BF+DA writer Kelly Drennan writes: “Taking transparency to the next level is traceability – a system that provides information on the farming, production, packing, distribution, transportation, and sales processes of a particular item of clothing. By reducing the difficulty of accessing this information on a product’s life cycle, traceability has the potential to increase conscious consumption.” If in fact, consumers are wanting to know more about where their … Read more