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Q & A: Round Up of Scouring + Mordanting 101

Mordanting and scouring should be at the top of your things-to-do list before natural dyeing. Botanical Colors Founder Kathy Hattori recently took on as many questions as was humanly possible to clarify the processes. Before reading, also please see our How-To Scour and How-To Mordant pages. Scouring Questions If I use untreated and unbleached fabric, is it a must to scour the fabric or is washing it enough? If you mean by “untreated” that it has never been scoured, then you should scour. If untreated and unbleached means it is also prepared for dyeing (PFD or RFD), then you can … Read more

This Indigo DIY Dye Project Will Spice Up Any Holiday Table

Image: Kate Miss for Bust Magazine Bust Magazine writes: “The fabric-dye trend is everywhere right now; people are going crazy for tie-dyeing, immersion dyeing, natural dyeing, and of course, shibori. The last one is often mistaken as tie-dye, but it’s actually in a category of its own. Shibori is a Japanese method in which fabric is made into a three-dimensional form via binding, folding, twisting, stitching, plucking, and plaiting; then it’s dipped into indigo dye. You can use any piece of fabric with this technique, but we’ll show you how to create your own shibori table runner and napkins.” Read … Read more

CURATED COLOR : Warm up with winter blues…

These carefully selected items highlight our love of all things blue SHOP OUR TOP SELLING BLUES Learn More About Indigo

Gearing Up to Sew Some Seeds at the Textile Arts Center

Last night we had a lot of fun at the Textile Arts Center in Manhattan. As you might have seen here and there on social media, we are the natural dye sponsor for the upcoming Sewing Seeds fundraiser. If you are in New York City and can attend, this is going to be a great event not just in terms of the most amazing naturally dyed textile installation “Tumbleweed Colony” from Lost in Fiber’s Abigail Doan, but a wonderful event to meet friends old and new. To purchase tickets for the event at the Textile Arts Center, go here and … Read more

The Beginner Dye Kit: Setting up your studio & safety

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

Malvar=Stewart Fuses Natural Dyes with Local Sound

Celeste Malvar-Stewart recently wrote to us: “I have to share this image with you because I am so excited to be able to use the dyestuff I’ve gotten from you for my special collection! I am collaborating with a local musician here in Columbus on the Local Sound Project…my eco couture collection of 8 hand felted and naturally dyed (all with your dyes) pieces that translate the musician’s sound waves from his 8 songs onto each piece. His music incorporates sounds from around the city and local vocalists our runway show at the Fashion Meets Music Festival will feature the … Read more

Supermarket Colors: Amazing Dyes Just Waiting To Be Found

This fun article on Sweet Paul Magazine is a fresh look at how common food dyes found around the home as well as natural dyes can work together. (Just the photography had us hook, line and sinker…) We’ve recently put up new dye instructions on the site including this easy indigo vat recipe so go explore and see what fun new projects you can come up with!

Indigo Instructions

Our indigo instructions originally used a recipe based on Michel Garcia’s 1-2-3 vat, created nearly 10 years ago. Since then, we’ve made some changes and developed different recipes that will allow you to control how light or dark your vat is. Types of Vats: There are three main types of vats that you can build. Use the indigo instructions below to decide which one is best for you. Vat type About Advantages Disadvantages Fructose Clearest blue Dyes lighter than henna or iron Seems to perform best when aged for 2-3 days, and when warmed before use. Henna Warmest blue/yellow cast … Read more

Mordant Monday: Overdyeing: Indigo First, or Indigo Second?

We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] YOU ASKED: Do you always dye indigo first before overdyeing with another color? Does it make any difference? KATHY ANSWERED: When I was starting out, I was advised to dye with indigo first, rinse, mordant my fabric, and then dye with a mordant color second in order to create any type of compound color when indigo is involved. We largely agree with this as most of our production colors start with an indigo shade that we dip. We seem … Read more

Video From Live FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Around the World in 80 Fabrics

Our last FEEDBACK FRIDAY was with National Geographic Explorers Tierney Thys (a marine conservationist), Carroll Dunham (a medical anthropologist), and Lesli Robertson (a textile educator/consultant) for “Around the World in 80 Fabrics.” The three shared their discoveries of fabrics from nature through their project, Around the World in 80 Fabrics – from natural dyes used in Bhutanses textiles, to clay-dyed barkcloth of Uganda, and cutting edge dyes and fabrics from algae. Watch the video recording below. Project: Web, www.atw80fabrics.org IG, @atw80fabrics Newsletter signup, HERE Support the project HERE ABOUT: With every wash, hundreds of thousands of microplastics shed off our … Read more