More Bamboo Bad News!

Following the previous post about bamboo, I've been alerted to another website that has information on the processing of bamboo into fibre and ultimately into fabric:
http://green.wikia.com/wiki/Bamboo:_An_Eco-Friendly_Fabric%3F

Don't be confused by the advert for Honda at the top of the article!  It's well worth a read and gives an really good insight into the "horrors" of bamboo that I had hope wouldn't come true, but sadly has.

How to Dye Wood

I'm often asked if Pure Tinctoria natural dye extracts can be used to dye wood and my answer is yes they can, but I'm not sure how.

Now I know!  My craft & design student has done some research for me, as he wants to use the dyes to stain wood he is using to produce furniture and has given me the link to a useful website.  The main gist of the information is to dye wood using plants, but could easily be used  with extracts.

Darren has gone home with some of the extracts, red lace, cutch waste and dhak (tesu flower) and says he will do some experiments for me.  He really is a star!  I will post his results on this blog.

Colour Inspirations from Landscapes

A two day break in Anglesey has given me three beautiful colour palettes, one very fresh, one very warm and one a combination of warm and cool.

The first was inspired by the heathland above South Stacks Lighthouse on Holy Island. These fresh colours reflect the low growing heather and gorse.

The yellow could be dyed by using dhak or Himalayan rhubarb root.  The greens could be obtained by over dyeing the same colours with indigo and the pinks could be dyed by a weak solution of red lac and oak gall.

The next palette shows the fabulous earthy colours found on Parys Mountain, near Amlwch, on the north side of the island.

The rich, warm colours lend themselves to natural dyes beautifully.  Oak gall, golden dock, and a weak solution of purple lac lightly over dyed with indigo and oak gall also lightly over dyed with indigo would all be worth trying to obtain the colours.

Finally, these blues and soft beiges were inspired by the beach at Aberffraw on the south of Anglesey.  The blues can be found in indigo and the sand colours could be found in oak gall or sanderswood natural dye extracts.

Ayurvedic Clothing!

Here's a reason to dye your fabric, yarn or fibres to be made into clothing with natural dye's, extracts or otherwise!
Read all about a clothing label that is doing just that.  Anjelika Krishna of A.D.O. is reviving the ancient tradition of Ayurvastra, literally "life dress" or infusing clothing with medicinal herbs which also dye the fabrics.