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Aluminum Potassium Sulfate

Highly prized worldwide since antiquity, aluminum potassium sulfate is the premier mordanting material for protein fibers such as silk and wool. Check out our instructions on using aluminum potassium sulfate for detailed information on preparing your fibers for natural dyeing. What does this humble mineral have in common with the most powerful family in Italy during the Renaissance? During the 12th century, ambitious nobles and merchants became rich on alum exports from the Aegean islands. In the mid-15th century, the expanding Turkish empire gained control of the Aegean areas and imposed heavy tariffs on the mineral, causing a shortage and … Read more

Dried Weld Flowers

We are happy to carry beautiful dried weld flowers from Two Looms Textiles based in Washington State. They are sweet-smelling and very potent. The 100g bag contains a mix of weld flowers, stems and leaves. Use all of the plant in the dye pot. For detailed instructions, please see our how to page. Weld (Reseda luteola) is the most lightfast of the yellow dyes, used by ancient tapestry weavers in Central Asia, Turkey and Europe. Weld is the brightest and clearest yellow flower dye. In combination with iron, weld creates a rich chartreuse, or when underdyed with light indigo, yields a … Read more

Madder Extract

Madder (Rubia cordifolia) is one of the oldest and most frequently used traditional dyestuffs known to human kind. It has extensive history in Turkey, India and Iran. There, it is still being used for dyeing knotted and woven carpets. The secret for Turkey red, a deep rich red color, was guarded for centuries throughout Central Asia. In addition, it involved more than twenty steps to create this prized shade. Our madder extract will produce pale pink and peach shades all the way through a deep, wine-colored red. Madder extract dyes to its deepest colors with an alum mordant and the … Read more

Shikon (Purple Gromwell) Japanese dye

(Shikon or Purple Gromwell) Lithospermum erythrorhizon Murasaki is the name of the plant and shikon is the name of the roots but we love the poetic name that describes the color of wisteria blossoms. This delicate purple is an ancient shade, dating in Japan from the Nara period (AD 710-794). At that time, the color was reserved exclusively for the highest ranks of Japanese society and forbidden for commoners to wear. During the Edo period, purple became acceptable for all as it was popularized by a famous actor. This dye is similar to alkanet and is most easily extracted by … Read more

Natural Palettes by Sasha Duerr

From the Publisher: In Natural Palettes by Sasha Duerr, renowned natural dyer, artist, and educator Sasha Duerr envisions a new age of fresh, modern color palettes, drawing from our original source of inspiration and ingredients—the natural world around us. This innovative plant-based color-guide includes twenty-five palettes. Additionally, it contains five hundred natural color swatches, providing inspiration for sustainable fashion, textiles, fine art, floral design, food, medicine, gardening, interior design, and other creative disciplines. Bring the healing power of forest bathing into your home with a palette of spruce cones, pine needles, and balsam branches. Move past Pantone. Embrace the natural … Read more

Pomegranate Extract

Pomegranate extract (Punica granatum), is known as anaar in India and granado in Spain. It grows wild in India, Italy, North Africa and China. The pomegranate also serves as a symbol in many cultures. It is a common motif in Christianity, the fruit of choice on the Jewish holiday, Rosh Hashanah, and a recurring token in Greek and Roman mythology. It continues to serve a symbolic purpose in Greek culture, showing up in weddings, funerals, new home purchases, and the new year, serving as a symbol for abundance, fertility, and good luck. Some use pomegranate extract as both a tannin-rich … Read more

Wattle Extract

Wattle is a member of the Acacia family. People use it extensively in leather tanning as it works very well for even coverage and penetration of skins and pelts for tanning. Australia, South Africa and India grow most wattle. They most commonly extract the Black Wattle to create the dye. Natural dyers use wattle extract as one of the rich tannins to create iron-based grays and blacks or to overdye with indigo to create interesting muted greens. The color is a beige with a pink cast. Additionally, it has a characteristic toasty wood smell. For more information on how to … Read more

Rich Purple Logwood

We are carrying a specialty-grade Rich Purple Logwood that yields a brighter, deeper, and richer purple shade, especially on wool and silk fibers. Logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum) originates from the Yucatan region of Mexico. It is naturalized throughout Central America and parts of the Caribbean. It was also known as Palo de Campeche or Campeche wood. Like cochineal, logwood extract was one of the valuable dyes from the New World. As a result, Spain and England went to war over regions that were lush with logwood trees in an effort to control the lucrative logwood dye trade. Logwood yields a rich, … Read more

Singing the Blues with John Marshall As Your Guide

For those who love indigo blue and have started cultivating a patch of Japanese indigo (Persicaria tinctoria), Singing the Blues with John Marshall As Your Guide is a treasure. Renowned textile artist John Marshall is fluent in both indigo and Japanese. And it is our great fortune as his book explains the many methods of dyeing with Japanese indigo. It goes far beyond the simple methods commonly used today. John’s humorous, clearly written and lavishly illustrated book draw from his own techniques and tools as well as translating several Japanese texts that have not been available to the English-speaking natural … Read more

Japanese Surikomi brushes

Surikomi are traditional, handmade Japanese brushes used for textile painting. We offer a range of sizes from a tiny, tiny 0.5 beautiful for pinpoint marks and stipples to the popular larger sizes, that are perfect for larger marks. The brushes are hand carved from a single piece of bamboo, split to hold a round clump of soft deer hair, then seated in a paper “ferrule”, lacquered and stitched together to hold the bristles in place. They are works of art themselves. The dense bristle arrangement allows them to hold significant amounts of pigment and they are suitable for applying washes … Read more