The Sukumo Indigo Vat: A Time-Honored Tradition in Dyeing Aizome.
Sukumo indigo holds a special place as a time-honored dyeing technique. Derived from the leaves of the Polygonum tinctorium plant, Sukumo...
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9 min read
The Color Palette of the Jewish People in Natural Dyes
In my quest to give a more profound, layered meaning to my work, I have been diving increasingly into the history of natural dyes. This...
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4 min read
Natural Dyeing: The 157 Natural Dye Recipes of Paul Gout
Re-dyeing 18th century dye recipes by Paul Gout in Montpellier, France
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4 min read
How to Dye Fabrics Pinks with Birch Bark
Birch trees are deciduous trees that belong to the Betulaceae family, which also includes alders and hazels. There are approximately 60...
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5 min read
Dyeing with Kermes
The rarest dyes, part of a series of (now) rare natural dyes, see also the blog about Murex and Kakishibu. Kermens is an insect-derived...
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8 min read
A Tradition of Natural Dyes in Oaxaca - Mexico (part 1)
In the summer of 2022, I visited Mexico for almost a month. I started with a visit to Mexico City and Cuernavaca, then moved to San...
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5 min read
Kakishibu - Persimmon Tannin Dye
A blog in the series "The rarest dyes", see the blog about Murex dyeing here. Persimmons (Latin: Diospyros kaki) are a fruit with a long...
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3 min read
How to use Symplocos, a plant based alum mordant.
Try Symplocos for a 100% plant based dye process and stunning new shades. In the second half of the 19th century, botany was extremely...
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8 min read
Imperial Purple and Holy Blue - Mollusk Dyes
Murex dyes for purple and blues from antiquity to today
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4 min read
Dyeing like it's 1744
When I was young(er) I studied classical guitar. I actually have a degree-and-a-half in it, finishing the final concert of my Masters...
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2 min read
Using Clubmoss as an Alum Mordant
Bioaccumulation is the gradual accumulation of substances in an organism, in this case; alum. There are a few plants that are...
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3 min read
What makes a Plant a Dye Plant? - Part 3: Naphthoquinones.
Part three in the series about what makes a plant a dye plant
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3 min read
What makes a Plant a Dye Plant? - Part 2 Anthraquinones
Red is a fascinating color. In the plant world there are several different phytopigments that are responsible for reds, purples and...
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4 min read
Foraging Flavonoids
Before we get started, let's agree on what I call the Foragers Pact; When foraging it’s important to leave enough for the plant to thrive...
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3 min read
What makes a plant a dye plant? Part 1 Flavonoids.
All plant materials contain a mix of different phytochemicals. I am not going to re-invent the wheel and I will quote Wikipedia on the...
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3 min read
Make dye and ink from Persian Berries
They are another classic of the natural dye world. Buckthorn berries, Avignon berries, or best known as; Persian berries. Buckthorn...
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2 min read
Natural Dyeing WIthout a Mordant
Here are 4 Natural Dyes you can use without the need of a mordant. Most natural dyes really need a good mordanting, either...
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3 min read
Dyeing with Dyer's Greenweed
Using Genista Tictoria, Dyer's Greenweed as a yellow dye source
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7 min read
4 types of aluminium mordants & recipes for use.
Dye experiments using different alum based mordants
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