cochineal Archives - Page 3 of 4

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: I’ve always used my tap water to dye but have just started using rain barrels to collect water I will use for dyeing-can you tell me what differences you have found in using different types of water? Water is a significant factor in natural dye results. Water that is highly mineralized with calcium, magnesium and/or iron will … Read more

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: When working with iron on a larger scale, what is the best and safest methodology? I’m working on a project that is not big enough to requesting a dye house, so working out of a very large container (the size of a bathtub) and although I wear gloves, goggles and a (very basic) breathing mask, sometimes I … Read more

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions (Red Edition)

Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: I really want to get a deep red what should I use? These instructions are for wool or silk. This color is trickier to achieve on cotton or linen. If available, use filtered, distilled or reverse osmosis water for the dye bath. Scour fibers well and mordant at 20% aluminum sulfate and let the fibers soak in … Read more

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: Do you have any tips on getting a crimson red on cotton from cochineal? Been trying so many different ways and can’t get the concentration to stay! The majority of the historical recipes for very deep and bright red on cotton use madder, not cochineal. Your best bet if you want the deepest shade on cotton is … Read more

How To: Bundle Dyeing Easter Eggs With The Dogwood Dyer

VIDEO: An Exploration of Place and Natural Dyes, Cordova Alaska

VIDEO: An Exploration of Place and Natural Dyes, Cordova Alaska Paul Gaugin was once quoted as saying “Color! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams.” It’s true. Those who stop to marvel at the color all around them easily see the mysteries- looking deeply into the crashing roll of a wave, the veins on a leaf, the back of a beetle tooling slowly across the yard…nature is always busy showing off. As a sustainable fashion writer and lover of natural dyes (thanks in big part to Botanical Colors), I too am in awe of how natural dyes … Read more

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

8 Frequently Asked Questions About Natural Colors and Dyes

We get asked so many questions about natural dyes that we put together 8 of our most frequently asked questions! What are natural dyes? Natural dyes are textile colorants that are derived from plants, insects and other natural materials. They are steeped in history, mystery and lore and each culture has its own set of prized colors, traditions and meanings. Prior to the mid-19th century, all dyes were from the natural world. Blue came from indigo, yellow from a variety of plants, including fustic, mignonette and dyers’ greenwood, red from madder roots and cochineal insects, purple from logwood and brown … Read more

Confused About Cochineal? Ask Kathy!

We get so many questions about cochineal, from techniques to color fastness to “what does it smell like?” The questions are frequent so we’re hoping many of you will send them in so Kathy can properly answer and give you some help! Today’s question came in from one of our favorite textile artists, Abigail Doan of Lost in Fiber. Abigail: I was recently chatting with my textile artist mother over Labor Day weekend about recent natural dye experiments she has been doing, and she shared that the color that she has yielded from cochineal dye has often varied. I know … Read more

Dyeing For Dummies: The Wonders of Cochineal

Like I’ve said before, working for a natural dye guru like Kathy Hattori can give one an inferiority complex. I hate inferiority complexes for me or anyone else, so when feeling less than, I say take on the thing that most scares you (unless it’s skiing). In this particular case, I accepted the challenge of cochineal and a Tussah Silk Gauze Shawl that is also on the Botanical Colors site. In the instructions that Kathy gave me, it said to use a coffee grinder or spice mill to grind up 1 tablespoon of whole cochineal (for a dark red which … Read more