indigo dyes Archives - Botanical Colors

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: My indigo stock solution isn’t changing color? What should I do? If you have an indigo flower and metallic scum and you have done all the above steps and it’s still stubbornly dark, opaque blue, add 1 spoonful of calcium hydroxide, and 1 spoonful of fructose or henna, stir carefully and watch for reduction. Gently heating the … Read more

Natural Dyes, Celestial Maps and Technology Partner for Exhibit

We love when natural dyes and technology come together and when it also involves celestial maps? Well, let’s just say some collaborations are a lot cooler than others. The Creator’s Project is one of our favorite daily reads and they write this: “Those in the northern hemisphere know that the North Star, Polaris, is a useful tool of navigation. But few know that, because of changes in Earth’s axial rotation, Polaris hasn’t always been—nor will it remain—the North Star. This lies at the heart of a new exhibition titled Deep Future, which features robotically-drawn celestial maps of what the North … Read more

EILEEN FISHER Learning Lab Event With Botanical Colors Indigo!

Shibori is a centuries-old Japanese method of dyeing cloth by binding, stitching, folding, twisting, and compressing. In this workshop featuring all Botanical Colors indigo dyes, participants will learn these basic techniques through demonstration and hands-on application. Utilizing recycled and reclaimed materials, participants will apply these decorative techniques to create their own unique piece. Tuition is $115 and includes materials, use of all tools, coffee, tea, and light snack not to mention just being in the amazing and beautiful EILEEN FISHER Learning Lab in Irvington. RSVP on the EILEEN FISHER Learning Lab page here! Instructor Jean Wasil is a graduate of … Read more

From Color to Cut: The Science Behind a Pair of Levi’s

Before a new line of Levi’s indigo blue jeans appears in a store, Bart Sights and his team at the Levi’s Eureka Lab have worked hard to perfect the perfect pair. The New York Times writes: “Natural indigo is finicky, and for the jeans Levi’s produces on a mass scale, the company uses primarily synthetic, the industry norm. These kettles of dye, with their rich fish-sauce stink, are mostly kept around as inspiration, a link to a previous era that, given Levi’s role in the early years of denim jeans (“waist overalls,” as they were originally known), is a constant … Read more

Test Dyeing in Detroit With Lazlo

This week we are in Detroit, dipping indigo with Lazlo, an apparel brand run by a sibling duo in Detroit. So exciting! Lazlo is taking the most familiar items in a man’s wardrobe and rethinking each step of the manufacturing process to consider its impact on local economies and the environment. The result is a premium t-shirt with a lifetime guarantee. Check out this interview we had with them back in August and see more of our indigo exploration this week below.

This Indigo Research Could Make Blue Jeans Green

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, is caged within a sugar molecule and isolated from the rest of the cell in an organelle. Only when leaves are damaged is indican released from this compartment. The sugar protective cage is removed, allowing a chemical change that makes indigo. Green leaves turn blue. … Read more

10 Natural Dye Instagram Feeds We Can’t Get Enough Of

What are the 10 natural dye Instagram feeds we can’t get enough of?? All of these people! We love being inspired by our community and to see who is doing what and where! While some of these feeds are a little new to Instagram, others are seasoned members and continue to inspire. Here are 10 natural dye Instagram feeds we can’t stop going back to but are no means the complete list. Who have we forgotten? Let us know and we’ll add on! And don’t forget to find us on Instagram as well as Botanical Colors! A Verb For Keeping … Read more

Bourbon Barrel (And Indigo) Aged Denim From Noble Denim

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 desk job to sew all the jeans himself in our first year. Their site says: “As Noble grows, Chris wants to stay a hands-on creator rather than moving back to a desk simply because he eats sleeps and breathes making clothes. Our Small Batches keep … Read more

blue yarn over an indigo vat in a white bucket

DIY Ombre Yarn!

We love this article by Scissor Variations on how to DIY dye yarn at home. Though the author suggests Dylon dyes, we’ll direct you here to all of our natural dyes that will help achieve the same results with much less toxicity. Check out the step by step process here and have fun (not to mention try not to drool from her beautiful pictures)! Image: Scissor Variations

Vermont Artist Dyes Fabric With Sumac And Indigo For Janis Joplin-Inspired Clothing

VPR, Vermont NPR writes: “Recently, NPR has been exploring the concept of color and the impact that rich hues have in our day-to-day lives. That’s a topic that’s near and dear to one Northeast Kingdom artist. Graham Keegan makes fabric dye from plants that he harvests near his Kirby home — plants like wild sumac and home-grown indigo. His natural dyes attracted the attention of a clothing line that pays homage to Janis Joplin. The late singer’s niece, Malyn Joplin, has launched a clothing line called “Made for Pearl,” and she’s hired Keegan to design and produce fabric.” Check out the … Read more