Natural Dyes Archives - Page 21 of 31

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

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 fascinated with natural dyes and eager to start learning but the problem is that I don’t know where to even start. Do you have any advice on how to get started, is there a book you could recommend, or anything like that? I want to eventually do a studio day class with you, but would … 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

Colorant’s Sonia Tay Gets Natural Dye Inspiration in Marrakesh

Sonia Tay, the designer behind Colorant traveled to Morocco last April which inspired her current collection dyed with natural dyes that Botanical Colors was proud to be part of. Each of her collections is manufactured and dyed here in the U.S. Tay is an American fashion designer, a native New Yorker who graduated from Parsons School of Design and studied at Parsons Paris in the interim where she furthered her studies of Art History and Costume Design. It was here she was able to focus on her love of fabrics and color history, traveling through Europe, stopping in fashion capitals … 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: After using the 1-2-3 indigo dye vat, do you need to mordant the now blue skein before you overdye with yellow to get green or madder to get purple? If you are overdyeing with a dye that does not require a mordant (like walnut hulls, for example), then you do not need to mordant after indigo dipping. … Read more

EILEEN FISHER & Botanical Colors Launch Botanical Collection

We are so excited to announce our Botanicals Collection with EILEEN FISHER! Check out our indigo, madder root, and ground pomegranate peel on EILEEN FISHER’s organic handkerchief linen here. “Embracing natural dyes means embracing nature-from its unique colorations to all its perfect imperfections. It’s really thrilling to see EILEEN FISHER surge ahead with a beautiful and natural dye offering and to have involved us in this project. We are honored,” says Kathy Hattori, founder of Botanical Colors. As part of EILEEN FISHER’s rigorous Vision 2020, the company is taking on toxic dyes, human rights as well as sustainability in an … 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

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 advice on how to get a consistent grey? I am answering this in two parts. One, how to get a consistent, non-blotchy color and two, how to get the same color in multiple dye baths. Here’s the answer to the first question. Most gray recipes are a combination of a tannin dye with … 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

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

Image: Honest Alchemy 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 dyeing logwood on wool and only getting a brown color-what is happening? The rich purple color from logwood can be affected by cream of tartar. If you normally mordant with cream of tartar, try omitting it in the mordant process. You may also enhance logwood by adding a pinch (less than 1/8th … Read more