A visit to the Weald & Downland Living Museum takes us on a journey through 950 years of English rural history. There are 50 historical buildings which were carefully rebuilt within the 40 acre site, demonstrations and exhibits, plus an extensive artefact collection housed in the award-winning Downland Gridshell Building. Throughout the year, the Museum […]
Tag Archives: Natural Dyes
28
Sep
Sep
Wild Rose Escapes run craft, wild cookery and relaxation holidays and courses in the heart of the Highlands of Scotland. Their courses include natural dyeing and felt making. We invited owner Rosie to tell us a little more about their craft holidays. “I have been running craft courses in the Highlands of Scotland for over […]
03
Jul
Jul
These exciting soluble indigo natural dyes are derived from fermented natural indigo and alkanet. The Turquoise Blue natural dye gives a good blue and at lower concentrations provides a fine teal green. The Forest Green, which also contains fermented pomegranate, produces a deep green. Just 10g will dye 100g of materials to the full colour […]
16
Jun
Jun
Thanks to the wondrous invention of the world wide web, George Weil receive orders for craft tools and materials from all over the world. One of the furthest delivery destinations is the Falkland Islands. Although it is more than 8,000 miles away, there has never been a lost parcel yet! Our sales manager Jo has […]
10
Jun
Jun
Shibori, the ancient Japanese technique of fabric folding and dyeing has been brought right up to date. Traditionally indigo was used to create patterning. However, using modern dyes, discharge agents and fabrics you can easily develop complex patterns. Tying and clamping, dyeing and discharging, re-dyeing and heat setting the fabric creates a new and visually […]
10
Jun
Jun
There are a number of ways to create rust patterns on cotton and silk fabric and here is a simple controlled method. Natural fibres take the rust colours better than synthetic fibres and fabrics should be free from oils or starches. Prepare your fabric by rinsing in a solution of synthrapol and water (half a […]
05
Jun
Jun
What are Natural Dyes? Natural dyes are derived from naturally occurring sources such as plants, minerals and invertebrates and used to add colour to textiles and paper. The dyes tend to fall into one of three types, mineral, substantive or adjective. The type of natural dye will determine if a mordant needs to be used. […]
03
Jun
Jun
These notes appear originally on the Yahoo Group ‘Natural Dyes’ and have been reproduced with the kind permission of the author, Dick Huset. “Three years ago after a trip up to the arctic where the big lichen ‘ears’ have been an emergency food source for eons, I experimented back at home to add new color […]
03
Jun
Jun
These alternative indigo dye recipes are reproduced with the kind permission of Alison Daykin at Alison Yule Textiles. Find out more about indigo and how to set up a traditional indigo dye vat. Indigo Dye Vat using Yeast and Sugar Although indigo powder is blue, the indigo molecule does not produce its blue colour until […]
03
Jun
Jun
Here we include an Indigo Dye Recipe and a little about the history of this ancient dye. Indigo is probably the most widely used dyestuff of all time – indeed denim jean material is still coloured using indigo dye as it is extremely wash fast. It was used many centuries before the Christian era in the […]