Botanical Colors

From The Ecology Center’s site: Join us for a daylong journey into natural dyeing beginning with gathering from our dye gardens, learning about the history and sustainability of using local plants, and making our own dyes. In part 1 of our two-day Natural Dyes workshop series, we will explore native plants and their dye properties […]

According to Phys.org, Berkeley bioengineering professor John Dueber has studied the chemical steps plants use to naturally make indigo, and he thinks he has found an environmentally green way for the industry to churn out the dye without the use of toxic compounds. “When plant leaves are healthy, a chemical precursor to indigo, called indican, […]

We’ve been helping Cincinnati-based  Noble Denim on a collaborative project with Bulleit Bourbon, dyeing jeans with natural dyes in old bourbon casks. A fascinating bit of research and development for sure so we are dyeing (couldn’t help it), to see how the colors come out. Chris Sutton, the “head jeansmith” of Noble Denim left his […]

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 […]

Each week, we take a look at the last to see what the stories were on our Facebook and Twitter feeds that had you clicking through. Here are the top 5 that had some resonance with you! Natural Dyes and Papermaking on The Fiber Wire: “These natural dye experiments started with standing in line at […]

Ok, so this GIF-Style guide to shibori dyeing on Racked is completely amazing. While they don’t use natural dyes, let us suggest our very own Indigo Shibori Kit that is a fan favorite. Now, get reading this story because it’s awesome. “Upstate‘s beautifully dyed designs may look like they were crafted in a Catskills cabin, […]

Do you know what natural dyes make what colors? We loved coming across this fun chart from Collective Individual.

Gallery 51 manager Julia Morgan-Leamon and North Adams, Massachusetts artist Sarah Sutro, who has a studio in the Eclipse Mill, have curated a group show of 10 local, national and international artists, in “Water and Earth,” a call to protect fragile ecosystems. “Sutro brought the idea to the gallery. It has roots in a trip […]

We found this amazing article today on Dezeen featuring Berlin design studio Blond and Bieber. The duo uses algae to create colorful dyes for textile printing and has just won a competition for young designers organized by Lodz Design Festival. The studio’s founders Essi Johanna Glomb and Rasa Weber have also created an analogue textile-printer that […]

Dear Kathy, I am a total newbie natural dyer and one thing I keep wondering about is why am I always getting a marbling effect when I dye? I’d love to know how to get saturated color! My husband and I would like to darken our denim and it’s not working the way we’d like. […]