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magali reus

+ this beautiful exhibition




now let's see where was i ...

last friday i sort of got sidetracked by a post on vivre a la campagne
about couleur chanvre , i very charming company which sells kitchen
and bedlinen made of hemp and all dyed with natural dyes

..... which made me remember this place
a mill that grinds chalk , pigments and natural dyes
just outside of amsterdam

and got to see this book with recipes

in short i'm up to my nose into the world of natural dyes
and discovered that although the dye stuff is natural , that doesn't mean
the process is environmentally friendly. So far i haven't seen any grey color
without the use of iron , or beautiful brown colors without the help of copper.
So i'm wondering what kind of process they used for couleur chanvre

back to my pot with logwood for me and a good day to you !

12 comments:

so said...

hi loraine,
love the swatch card of dyed yarn.

you might also want to look at:
http://tiinateaspoon.blogspot.com/

she uses natural dyes--i don't know if it is the effect you are looking for though...

MWM said...

I have been researching natural dyes as well, to use in my new UN collection.
this is an interesting resource:
http://www.aljodye.com/main.html

eshu said...

so beautiful

it's always such a pleasure to visit this space...

hope all is well in your world!

xo

Anonymous said...

just thinking like you...
I'm trying to do more with tea, henne, etc!

Anonymous said...

oh i love the post about "couleur chanvre"...what is that gorgeous blue called???
nancy

Loraine said...

xo eshu

g&g i saw what you're doing :)
is that logwood ?

hi nancy , i don't know ,it could be indigo or woad...i want to try to get a color like that !

Ashes and Milk said...

Great post on natural dyes. Did I ever tell you about the indigo workshop in Japan? The dye and mordant was completely natural and also completely safe (even edible).

Loraine said...

hey nikko yes you told me about it
but the things i've been reading ,
talk about the use of ammonia before
you can use the dye , or urine if
you have a cow or something...

Ashes and Milk said...

Supposedly after the indigo ferments up to 3 months(which gives best results)with either lime or urine(which is not so commonly used) it's totally safe to the skin and if one were eat it(not sure why one would do those other than by mistake). The man who lead the indigo workshop had dipped his finger in the vat of dye and then into his mouth and said *safe to eat!* His front teeth were blue.

Loraine said...

hey nikko , i understand the misunderstanding now , i read it is a traditional way of dyeing in Japan, but here they use other methods , to shorten the process probably

Ashes and Milk said...

Yes, I agree: there are many ways to approach natural dyes. The workshop I did was using a very traditional and slow method. From what I was told, this will result in the truest indigo color. However process you use, and whatever mordant you choose will bring out a certain hue of blue, green or purple. Let me know how your adventures in this go. I'd love to hear about the details of the process.

fwuitbowl said...

Wow! I really love the work of that artist! I am so inspired. Thank you for the link!!