It is said by many natural dyers that all things dyed naturally go together. Nothing clashes and there are no richer colors than those those found on fibers coloured with natural dyes. Researcher and natural dyer Jim Liles says “Natural dyes possess additional beauty because they come from living things... I sometimes feel that some of that life is still there.”
The dyes that we sell are termed the “exotic” or “historic” natural dyes. They yield a good to excellent wash and light fastness when used in proper combination with mordants. We use them in our own studio and in our naturally dyed clothing.
A full palette of colors can be achieved by varying the mordants used and by blending dyes together (such as cutch and cochineal, or cochineal and madder, or madder and logwood). Overdying with indigo can make greens from osage or burgundies from madder.
Some dyes are available in a very concentrated extract form and we are please to offer a selection of extracts from the French natural-dye research team Couleurs de Plantes.
