Natural Dyes Archives - Page 31 of 32

‘Rebirthing’ Clothing Through Upcycling & Natural Dyeing to Reduce Carbon

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?” Neither did we. Now it makes us want to get some vats going immediately and get others addicted to natural dyeing! Read the full story here on 1 Million Women. Image: 1 Million Women

Good for You Clothing from Oregon’s Tinctoria Designs

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 “honor and protect our bodies and the environment.” Each Tinctoria garment is first sewn in it’s undyed natural state and is then hand dyed in our studio using material extracted from trees, roots, plants, and insects. All of the colors are handcrafted by mixing and … Read more

INTERVIEW: Donna Hardy of Sea Island Indigo

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 grown for generations: a pretty but humble shrub hiding its secret blue dye. Armed with a handful of seeds and the offer of a plot of land and free goat manure, Donna started her first crop of indigo and was overjoyed when she tested them … Read more

Dyeing For Dummies: The Wonders of Cochineal

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 cochineal and a Tussah Silk Gauze Shawl that is also on the Botanical Colors site. In the instructions that Kathy gave me, it said to use a coffee grinder or spice mill to grind up 1 tablespoon of whole cochineal (for a dark red which … Read more

Studio Time with Brooklyn’s Dogwood Dyer

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 in her urban Brooklyn street-side planters completely free of chemicals. Cataloging madder in the studio To reduce the impact of the water intensive dyeing process, 80% of her dye water is recycled back into her garden and she uses fibers like alpaca, mohair and Cormo … Read more

271 Years Before Pantone-Every Color Imaginable in an 800-Page Book

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 adding one, two, or three parts of water. The premise sounds simple enough, but the final product is almost unfathomable in its detail and scope. Spanning nearly 800 completely handwritten (and painted) pages, Traité des couleurs servant à la peinture à l’eau, was probably the … Read more

MALVAR=STEWART’s BLUEPRINT Collection

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 compromising beauty, quality, and integrity that by nature is one-off. As original as Malvar-Stewart’s collection is, Fresh Cut TEXTILES led by founder/natural dyer Amanda Cinco-Hoyt. FcT is an independent natural dye studio located in Detroit, created by Cinco-Hoyt and fully inspired by color, texture, exploration … Read more

Dyeing For Dummies: The Mysteries of Walnut Hull Powder

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 shrink back a bit and say, “I’ve only dyed once…and um, that was with Kathy.” The look of surprise too many times on people’s faces got me thinking, why WASN’T I trying to learn how to dye? Why was I letting Kathy and all her … Read more

Madison Wool and Wildwood Farm Host a Natural Dye Weekend

We had so much fun this past weekend in Madison, Connecticut at Madison Wool and Wildwood Farm’s natural dye weekend! Participants had their own personal natural dye journeys using both the classical, historical dyes and some surprising new ones (think walnut sludge and pokeberries). We also worked with some of Botanical Colors’ ancient raw dyestuffs such as cochineal, madder roots, walnut hulls and weld flowers. The group also learned about the secrets to obtaining the best color through chopping, simmering and carefully extracting natural dye tinctures. As an added bonus, we took a step outdoors to gather dyestuffs from the … Read more

Titania Inglis S/S 14 Takes Natural Dyes to New Levels

Last week at New York Fashion Week, Botanical Colors customer Titania Inglis, showcased her collection “Tessellation,” at the Standard hotel in Manhattan. For her S/S 14 collection, Inglis says she was particularly inspired by both the Danish-Icelandic installation artist Olafur Eliasson and renowned American architect and futurist Bucky Fuller. Botanical Colors was at the show alongside the fabulous textile artist and writer Abigail Doan who had this to say on The Wild magazine about Tessellation: “Her show’s angular silhouettes, laser cut patterns, and prismatic tones seemed to lock together on the runway – layered in ways that toyed with modular … Read more