[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This week: Muting oranges and reds from eco-printing and using three types of logwood for different impacts.
mordanting
FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions
This week: What kits are good for dyeing vintage linens and can mordanting cause streaking if not done properly?
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 would like to be able to make variegated yarn from a finished skein (as opposed to spinning my yarn from various colored fibers, which is what I do now). I’ve done most of my dyeing on wool that I spin and then weave, but would like to dye cotton and hemp fabric. I am not able … 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: I am curious if there is a way to thicken the liquid dye and use it for painting on fabric. Any info is much appreciated. There are a number of vegetable based thickeners or gums that are used in printing and painting. We offer an organic printing gum that is easy to use and offers excellent thickening … 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: What type of tool or method do you suggest to use in order to prevent my fabric from touching the sediment at the bottom of my organic indigo vat if I’m doing a long dip (let’s say more than 5 min)? Placing a large strainer or colander at the bottom of the bucket is the best way? … 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: I’m having trouble getting alum to dissolve. Even at 10% the solution was cloudy. This time I tried making a paste with boiling water but it still feels pretty crunchy. I’m amazed at how much pigment washes away. Using acid dyes I am used to seeing very little to no pigment in my wash water. I’m doing … 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: I’ve used henna in a 1-2-3 vat and love it but would like to get darker colors without redipping if possible. Is your recipe for the iron and henna online? We get very dark colors from henna but it is always through multiple dips. Do note that henna vats are stronger after several days of “ripening.” Indigo … Read more
Mushrooms As A Source For Color
The North American Mycological Association writes: “In the early 1970’s Miriam Rice, a fiber arts teacher from Mendocino, California, discovered that many species of wild mushrooms were a source of pigments or colors. These pigments could be extracted fairly easily in hot water and used to dye natural fibers, especially wool. With the help of her friend and illustrator Dorothy Beebee, they published their results first in 1974 in the book Let’s Try Mushrooms for Color, with a second book published in 1980, Mushrooms for Color. A more recent book published in 2007 and reprinted in 2012, Mushrooms for Dyes, … Read more