the Denver Dyer — natural dyes

Cacti Spirits

clay resist dye experiment indigo natural dyes painting techniques

Cacti Spirits

 wanted to see if I could layer another design overtop the iron print so I added more cacti spirits, this time hand painted with a clay resist paste.

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Aiming for Black

black dyes dye experiment logwood dyes natural dyes plant dyes

Aiming for Black

This spring I tried my first attempt at achieving black cotton with natural dyes. Coaxing the fabric to absorb layer after layer of colors was a very fun experiment and is just the beginning of a journey into richer, darker hues.  In the first picture I have the same fabric, undergoing the same dye process, with the darker cotton simply soaked in the dye bath longer by 2 or 3 weeks. I found an article on botanicalcolors.com that gives a detailed recipe for a European black dye that includes iron, tannin, and logwood.  There is a shimmering quality to the...

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