Natural Dyes Archives - Page 26 of 31

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

The 225 Year Old Cyanometer That Measures Blue

The website Colossal writes: “Hot on the heels of a post earlier this week about centuries-old guide for mixing watercolors, I stumbled onto this 18th century instrument designed to measure the blueness of the sky called a Cyanometer. The simple device was invented in 1789 by Swiss physicist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure and German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt who used the circular array of 53 shaded sections in experiments above the skies over Geneva, Chamonix and Mont Blanc. The Cyanometer helped lead to a successful conclusion that the blueness of the sky is a measure of transparency caused by the amount … 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

Supermarket Colors: Amazing Dyes Just Waiting To Be Found

This fun article on Sweet Paul Magazine is a fresh look at how common food dyes found around the home as well as natural dyes can work together. (Just the photography had us hook, line and sinker…) We’ve recently put up new dye instructions on the site including this easy indigo vat recipe so go explore and see what fun new projects you can come up with!

The Top 5 Natural Dye Stories That Had You Clicking…

Each week, we take a look at the last to see what the stories were on our Facebook and Twitter feeds that had you clicking through. Here are the top 5 that had some resonance with you! Natural Dyes and Papermaking on The Fiber Wire: “These natural dye experiments started with standing in line at the store, my cart overflowing with stainless steel pots, the woman behind me chuckling, ‘Looks like someone’s doing some cooking!’ I smiled and replied that, yes, I had a lot of cooking ahead of me. I decided not to mention what I’d be cooking – cotton.” … Read more

Botanical Colors a Featured Voice on Fashion Traceability

Botanical Colors founder Kathy Hattori was recently interviewed by the New York City based apparel production and ethical design facility, Brooklyn Fashion+Design Accelerator on natural dyes and color in the fashion industry. BF+DA writer Kelly Drennan writes: “Taking transparency to the next level is traceability – a system that provides information on the farming, production, packing, distribution, transportation, and sales processes of a particular item of clothing. By reducing the difficulty of accessing this information on a product’s life cycle, traceability has the potential to increase conscious consumption.” If in fact, consumers are wanting to know more about where their … 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

Silk & Willow’s Shellie Pomeroy Brings Poetry to American Made

Based in the Hudson Valley in New York, Silk & Willow dyes silk into some of the most poetic, luxe colors we’ve ever seen. Founder Shellie Pomeroy says “I continue to create and explore products that will compliment our ribbon line. I am passionate about hand crafted items of the highest quality and materials sourced from ethical companies. All of the materials used by Silk & Willow are either biodegradable (including the packaging & tags) or can be easily re-used or recycled. A finalist in the Martha Stewart American Made contest which “spotlights the maker, supports the local, and celebrates the handmade,” we also call Pomeroy … Read more

Han Purple: A 2,800-Year-Old Color Quantum Physicists Are Trying to Understand

According to Ancient Origins, “Han purple is an artificial pigment created by the Chinese over 2,500 years ago, which was used in wall paintings and to decorate the famous terracotta warriors, as well as ceramics, metal ware, and jewelry. The pigment is a technological wonder, made through a complex process of grinding up raw materials in precise proportions and heating to incredible temperatures.” Used as far as 800 BC, it was not used in art until the Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC – 220 AD), when it was applied to the world famous terracotta warriors, as well as ceramics … Read more