I was killing time, wandering around while my son tried to convince a very overstuffed koi fish to take one more piece of fish chow, when I ran across a lovely sight…

A loom!  Now, I’m not a weaver, but I did once take a class, and I find the whole process fascinating.  As I stood in front of this loom and stared at the work in progress, I wondered what on earth the yarn was made of.  I couldn’t figure it out.  Was it jute?  No, not rough enough.  Was it wool?  No, no fibers sticking out.  Well, what the heck was it??

After dragging my family back over to the loom, textile artist Susan Lei, whose lovely work this is, was kind enough to ease my curiosity.  This strange, mysterious yarn was,… mulberry paper!

Through an painstaking process of carefully cutting rolls of Japanese mulberry paper into long strips, winding them up into a cotton thread wrapped yarn, and then hand dyeing them in tea to attain a warm, aged color, she was able to make a beautiful, natural fiber for her latest work.

As we stood and talked, my son became completely fascinated with the working of the loom, including the foot peddles Susan Lei used to lift and lower the warp threads.  He had a barrage of questions for her about how everything worked, and in the end, I had to practically drag him away.  That loom might as well have been a Wii game system.

It got me to thinking about how distanced we have all become from the way everyday things are made, much less works of textile art such as this.  Many people, perhaps most in fact, don’t even know what the terms warp and weft (woof) mean, even though without weaving, we would all still be running around in animal skins.Musings on our cultural disconnects aside, I wanted to take a moment to show you just how lovely Susan Lei’s work is.  The piece on her loom is the very beginning of a kimono she is creating for a show at CSULB.  The kimono takes its motif from a tree, hence the beautiful knotholes and leaves.  I hope I get an opportunity to see the finished piece, as I’m sure it will be breathtaking.

Susan herself is also lovely, but I’m afraid the one image I took of her managed to be one of those “oops you blinked” moments, and if she’s like me, she would probably not appreciate it being made public. So you’ll just have to imagine a tall, slender, talented woman in a beautiful blue kimono, standing by her loom, enticing adults and children alike into learning the warp and woof of life.

The U.S. based company Air Dye has managed to do exactly that, by creating a new technology that can dye fabric without using a single drop of water!  This is an amazing advancement, and one we desperately need in the textile industry.  There is one problem though – other than getting the word out and encouraging fabric companies to give it a try…

The Air Dye system can only be used on synthetic fibers, such as polyester, nylon and acrylic.  That being said, with synthetic fabrics so prevalent in the interior design industry, the water and energy savings alone make looking for the Air Dye label a new must for designers.  And what are those savings you ask.  Well, according to Air Dye’s website:

“Synthetic textile-dyeing consumes 2.4 trillion gallons of water a year, enough to fill 3,700,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. AirDye reduces water use up to 95 percent, (Percentage include the production of raw materials used in our process).

Our one-step process cuts the energy consumption of dyeing by up to 86 percent.  That’s more than 2.8 trillion megajoules per year — enough to power more than 12 percent of the homes in the United States for a year.”

So who is using this new technology? So far in the interior design world,  Hunter Douglas Hospitality and FLOR carpet tiles have both signed on, and I’m sure many other companies will follow.  Particularly because the technology adds little, if any, to the cost of dyeing the fabric.  In addition, it is possible to do things such as print a different design on each side of a single piece of cloth, making for great possibilities in reversible draperies and other applications.

Imagine if all the plastic water bottles in the world (around 200 billion a year) were recycled into polyester fabric, and then dyed using Air Dye technology?   What a great step forward that would be.

People often ask me where the inspiration for my designs come from.  In my previous life, when I worked for a design house, they would send us out “trend shopping” the goal of which was to be inspired by what we saw at stores…. often high-end boutiques.  Trend shopping was my least favorite part of my job.  I know many people (primarily women) would love to be given a company credit card and told to “get inspired” but I always found this task to be rather soul-less.  What’s the joy in creating your own version of what has already been done?

Now that I am my own art director, I make it a habit to go “trend hiking” on a weekly basis.  I always bring along my camera instead of a VISA and look for new inspiration in the natural world around me.  Designs such as Fields of Honey are a direct result of such adventures.

However, sometimes, an idea comes from people in my life.  Such is the case with 40 Ginkgos.  I vividly remember having lunch with Rachel Hulan upon our first in-person meeting and having her tell me about her attraction to the ancient Ginkgo tree.  I think I was talking about my personal connection to the Redwood tree…

I told her then that perhaps I will do a Ginkgo print one day.  A couple of years went by.  Then one day I was visiting my friend Theresa in San Francisco.  Growing out of the sidewalk in front of her house on Divisadero Street is a Ginkgo tree.  I decided to take a few leaves off the ground home with me and those leaves transformed into the pattern 40 Ginkgos.  The color pallet for the design was inspired by my mother-in-law who LOVES the combination of red, green and white.  It reminds her of the red Geraniums that abound at Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

I have had a few customers request “holiday” colored fabrics I thought this design in this colorway would be the perfect holiday print that could be used year round.

So, to break down the process of how I work:
1. Idea – thanks to Rachel
2. Reference – thanks to the tree

3. Sketch – almost all of my designs start with a Sharpie pen and white paper.

4. Color, scale and layout are then created in the computer using a vector based program.
5. Colors are chipped, and artwork is sent to the engraver and screens are made.

6. Initial strike off is received to test the color and screens… adjustments are made as necessary.
7. Approval is given and production begins.

8. The wait begins…. as the fabric is printed, rolled, packaged, palletized, and in this case put on a boat for its travel to the USA from India.
9. Fabric makes it through customs and is inventoried at our warehouse in South Carolina.
10. Orders are filled and fabric becomes part of our “in full bloom” collection.

I am happy to announce as of today, 40 Ginkgos has made its way through the long process and is now available for purchase!  Of course, this fabric has been printed on 100% organic cotton and is certified to GOTS standards for the processing.  Now that I “call the shots” I wouldn’t have it any other way!

I love starting the day with a delicious looking image like this in my in-box!  Harmony Art now has the beautiful “Evelyn & Janette” in stock, and it’s available through PM Organics and soon to be available through Organic Fabric Online (AU) and Pure Fabricz (EU).

Harmony Art has also released a version I covet, called simply  “Evelyn” on which only the black flowers appear.

And of course, I can’t forget the wonderful “Ginkgo” print that I mentioned before in one of my very first posts, but was not yet in stock. This one is available through Organic Cotton Plus, NearSea Naturals, PM Organics and soon to be available through Pure Fabricz (EU).

Now if I could only take a minute to run out and get some granola, my tummy would stop reminding me that I’ve been staring at these images for far too long this morning.

Since 1856, when the first aniline dye was invented by William Henry Perkin, the use of natural dyes has seen a steady decline – supplanted by cheaper and easier to produce synthetics.  It is only recently, with the renewed interest in more sustainable forms of textile production, that the world has started to rediscover how amazing natural dyes can be.

All images by David Handschuh

Even with the renewed interest though, the use of natural dyes in the United States has thus far been on a very small scale.  Really little more than a loose network of dedicated textile artisans and crafters, up to their elbows in vats of tea and berry juice.  Small scale that is, until Noon Design Studio came along…

Madder Root

The only commercial scale natural dye production house in the United States, Chicago based Noon Design Studio developed their system for colorful, consistent, large scale natural dyeing while pursuing better dyeing methods for the portable solar bags of sister company Noon Solar.  They now provide their dyeing services to designers around the U.S., and can work on both a yardage or by the piece basis.  Best of all, they dye by weight and are capable of taking jobs as small as 10 pounds.

Cutch wood chips

Says founder Jane Palmer…

“I love naturally dyed textiles because of their unique beauty; they have a presence of hand and luminosity that cannot be created with chemical dyes.  I also love the dyes because of their sustainability with the earth and connection to thousands of years of history.”

Cochineal

Noon Design Studio uses only sustainably harvested natural materials in their dyeing process.  Their materials consist of fruits, woods, roots and even insects.  For example, they use madder root, pomegranate, walnuts, indigo, cochineal bugs, and many other dyestuff to achieve a rainbow of luxurious colors.

Just launched in January, Noon Design Studio may be the beginning of a real revolution in fabric design here in the States.  Certainly many textile, fashion and interior designers will be knocking on their door soon.  Imagine the possibilities!

All images via Kurikan

First in our series is the cloth ware company Kurakin.

After receiving a research offer from the government to see if it could find a way to use food scraps as colorants, the Tsuyakin Kogyo Company, of Ichinomiya, Japan, developed the “nokori dye” method. 

Based on historical dyeing techniques used for centuries, “nokori” utilizes eleven different food items to create soft, rich colors for fabrics.  Colors range from subtle tans and golds, to deeper lavenders and greens, depending on the crop source used, and the time of year in which it was harvested.

Although able to create great dyes from the food sources, the stability of the color over time and exposure to light concerned them, so they did add a small amount of traditional dye to the mix as well.  I’m hoping that with time and additional research they can convert to using 100% natural dye.

Once they had created the cloth, the Tsuyakin Kogyo Co. needed something to do with it.  Founded in 2008, the Kurakin company was put to the task of designing and marketing the delightful cloth baskets and pouches you see above.  Unfortunately, these are currently only available for sale through their Japanese language site.  Of course, there is always Google Translator if you’re feeling really desperate for one of those cute baskets.  I know I am!

Rowland and Chinami Ricketts are truly artists in indigo.  Apprenticing under master dyers and weavers in Japan, they have learned how to make amazingly beautiful, natural fiber textiles.

Having moved back to the United States in 2003, the Ricketts took awhile to find the right place to settle down and apply the knowledge they had gleaned in Japan.  Having recently found a home in Indiana, they are now free to pursue raising crops for indigo again (in the spare time left to them after caring for three small children!).

After harvesting their organic crop of the Polygonum tinctorium plant, the Ricketts begin the time consuming process of composting and fermenting required to turn a pile of leaves into rich, blue dye.

Every stage of the process demands patience, as it can be a matter of days or even weeks before the next step is taken.  Once a vat of dye is used up, what remains is returned to the field to aid in the growth of the next crop.  In fact, with the exception of the water used to rinse the cloth, every byproduct of the process becomes food for future crops.

The results of this environmentally sound approach to dying are magnificent.  Vibrant blues enrich the handwoven cloth, every fiber in the weave absorbing a slightly different amount of the indigo dye, giving the fabric a textural quality that cannot be copied by mechanical methods.

Says artist Rowland Ricketts -

“…we are such a small operation that whatever we do is less than a microscopic drop in the bucket of industrially produced textiles.  We are, however, “tending our own garden” and hopefully the historical processes we use can serve as a way forward through the past.”

Due to the careful, artisan nature of the work, the textiles are produced on a small scale, and are therefore not inexpensive.  Runners such as the ones shown above are around $250.  That may be more than a person would spend on something to throw on the table for a Sunday night dinner, but a small price to pay for a graceful work of art to hang on a special wall.

Pindler & Pindler has introduced a new line of luxury fabrics under the name “Pindler Green”.  Focused on natural fibers such as organic cotton and linen, Pindler has created some lovely patterns that are sure to have wide appeal, and not just to the sustainably minded.

I am particularly drawn to their suzani influenced patterns, such as Tybalt, an upholstery damask design, which is woven of 100% organic cotton and  comes in 5 colorways.

Pindler Green’s Mission Statement from their website -

“Pindler & Pindler understands that protecting the environment is not just a trend; it’s a way of life. Our mission is to be a resource to our environmentally aware designers and customers, supplying luxury fabrics woven from high-quality natural, sustainable fibers. We use only certified organic cotton, as well as linen, jute, flax, bamboo, hemp, wool and silk, all renewable and sustainable. Fabrics as nature intended are better for you, your home, and the environment as a whole.

Pindler Green fabrics meet authentic third party certification. They are produced by manufacturers meeting recognized standards for environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing processes. We use specially certified dyers specializing in low impact and non-toxic dyes and finishes that are free of all heavy metals and harmful agents. These sources use low exhaust emissions, and reduce energy consumption through the use of wind power.”

While I applaud Pindler for having a mission statement, as well as providing a good glossary of terms, I do wish they were a bit more specific as far as what certifications each fabric met, as well as showing more images of the patterns and colors available.  With luck I will be able to find out a bit more to share with you when I visit the local showroom next week.

Sometimes finding coordinated organic cotton bedding and pillows can be frustrating.  The patterns are often fairly plain, and the colors lean more towards earth tones.  Not so with Plover Organic’s linens!

Owners Marisa Kula Mercer, Sheila Mulvihill and Julia Wilbur, have cooked up a cornicopia of lovely, coordinating patterns to mix and match.

Founded in 2007, Plover Organic’s line is manufactured in India, in strict compliance with the Republic of India’s labor standards, as well as with Fair Labor practices.  All cotton is certified according to the standards of the Organic Trade Association (OTA) in the United States, and by those of IFOAM and SKAL internationally.  The dyes are all low-impact and fiber reactive, and all dye material is reclaimed so as not to be released into rivers or soil.

While the prints are fun and fresh, the pattern influence of East Indian block printing is easily seen.  In fact, Plover’s textiles ARE block-printed – by hand – so color and print variations sometimes occur.  I personally think that makes the prints even more appealing.

And for those looking for baby linens that are colorful and charming, in a very un-twee way, Plover Organics has those too!

Plover Organics can be found at many green retailers throughout the United States and Canada – check here for a list.  They can also be ordered online through EdenHome.com and Livingreen.com

One of the first fabric companies to use organic cotton exclusively, Harmony Art has been creating beautiful prints since 2005.

Often based on flowers and other botanicals found on walks in nearby fields, fabric designer Harmony Susalla combines a whimsical love for color with an artist’s sense of style and proportion.

It’s not all prettiness and light though.  Harmony Art is serious about sustainability.  All of their fabric is Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified, and meets or exceeds the Consumer Products Safety Commission Improvement Act for lead.   They also have a marvelous chart on their website which provides a compelling contrast between conventional and organic cotton.  A must read for anyone interested in why it matters which one you choose.

Harmony is constantly coming up with new designs, and always has a few in development for future release.  I’m sure it’s my fondness for ginkgo leaves, but I admit to being a little antsy for the 40 Leaves to become available!

A list of wholesalers for quantities over 50 yards may be found here

For consumer purchases, and those under 50 yards, a list of retailers may be found here.