Natural Dyes

“Los Angeles-based designer and Rule of Three founder Paige Cleveland has over a decade of experience in the graphic and fashion design industries. With an ardor for textiles, and the unexpected way color and pattern interact when combined, the seed was planted very early on. After traveling the globe and endless amounts of research on […]

Author Bronte Hogarth pens a story for 1 Million Women on natural dyeing and giving old clothing a new look. We agree with her 100%! Did you know that by “rebirthing clothes through upcycling, you could save an estimated CO2 Saving of 12kg per month (120kg per year), just by extending the life of your clothing?” […]

Tinctoria Designs was created by Samantha Backer and Jill Golden in the Spring of 2003. All of Tinctoria’s garments are the duos original designs and are “intentionally manufactured” in Portland, Oregon using only organic fabric blends including hemp, soy, and organic cotton and Botanical Colors’ natural dyes. Both Sandy and Jill use organic fibers to […]

272 years after the first successful indigo crop was planted in the Carolina colonies, Donna Hardy of Sea Island Indigo got an idea to research and track down the original strain of indigo plants that were grown in colonial Charleston. Her research and persistence located a few remaining varieties in isolated areas that had been […]

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 […]

Studio time is always inspiring and we were more than happy to welcome Liz Spencer of The Dogwood Dyer from Brooklyn a few weeks ago. Liz creates hand made accessories and garments from ethically sourced fibers and dyestuffs from the country and along roadsides surrounding New York City. She also grows some of her dyes […]

Colossal writes: “In 1692 an artist known only as “A. Boogert” sat down to write a book in Dutch about mixing watercolors. Not only would he begin the book with a bit about the use of color in painting, but would go on to explain how to create certain hues and change the tone by […]

Celeste Malvar-Stewart, the designer of Columbus, Ohio based MALVAR=STEWART creates “non-seasonal lines of women’s clothing,” using salvaged fabrics and local natural dyes that do not follow the standard fashion concept of “this season’s color palette.” They also focus on unconventional design that is thoughtful towards the environment at every stage of the garment’s life cycle, without […]

Carrie Crawford, a new Botanical Colors customer wrote to us: “My husband, Jonathan contacted you in October for some basic indigo information and we shortly thereafter ordered supplies for a 1-2-3 vat. I have been experimenting and having a wonderful time with my vat…what a beautiful experience….I am forever in love with indigo…. I will […]

Working for a natural dye guru can give a social media director and consultant (that’s me) an inferiority complex. In fact, when people ask me who I work for and I tell them, Kathy Hattori, a “natural dye guru,” and they say “Oh, you must be really good at dyeing,” all I can do is […]