After gathering at the lovely French General for the workshop, we all carpooled over to the park where our dyeing experience would take place.

Once at the park we got a delightful and informative overview of the history of woad dyeing from Denise Lambet, who flew all the way from the South of France just to create a legion of new woad addicts dyers.  After regaling us with stories of previous woad workshop students stripping down to their skivvies in an attempt to have just ONE more garment to dunk in the vats, she proceeded to explain how the process worked, and what we would need to do to have a successful dyeing experience.  Then we got to work.

We were each provided with a bucket full of water and a stick, and told we needed to get our items thoroughly wet – NO air bubbles allowed!  Air is not your friend when you are dyeing with woad. Not only will air bubbles in your fabric block the dye from bonding with it, they also cause the woad to activate to a blue color prematurely, rendering the batch of woad weaker.

In case you didn’t look at the previous post, here is what a fresh batch of woad dye looks like.  Delicious, no?

After a brief moment of hesitancy, we all started cautiously dipping our first textiles into the woad.

Then we progressively got bolder… 

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Ahem.  OK, maybe not THAT bold.

Pretty soon we were plunging our hands in as well as our fabrics.  Thank goodness we were wearing gloves!

Well, most of us were anyway.  A few hardy souls decided to go into full on woad mode, leaving their hands a lovely shade of blue that will last them for weeks.  Badge of honor I guess.

That is some yarn being dyed.  I would love to see something made from it!

Sometimes, strange “creatures” would float to the surface of a vat.  Any guesses what that is?

As soon as you dyed something, you needed to hang it up so the initial yellowish color could oxygenate to the final lovely blue.  You could watch it happen as you ran to the line.  Pretty cool.

Here are a few of the items I dyed.  The depth of blue depended on the strength of the batch (they varied over the 6 or so vats available), the type of fiber, and the time you left it in the dye.

Soon the drying lines started to fill up, so they had to put up more line…

and more line…

until we ran out, and we started to use the rock walls.

This is one of those times when I wish I had an extreme wide angle lens, because I want to badly so show you how there was blue EVERYWHERE in sight.  It was almost 360 degrees of blue.  So beautiful!

People were dyeing everything from yarn, to lace, to small tablecloths, to these sneakers.  After lunch, I only had one item left to dye, and once I was done with that I still felt the itch.  So I did exactly what Denise Lambet predicted…

I took the clothes off my back and plopped them in!  That used to be an oatmeal colored organic cotton sweater I’m standing behind.  Now it is a gorgeous shade of dusky blue.  If there hadn’t been a little bit of a chill in the air (not to mention a few men folk around) I might have been tempted to see what else I had on to toss in a vat.

All in all, it was an amazing afternoon.   The wonderful folks at French General are hoping to offer this workshop again next year.  I’m not sure if I can wait!  That blue is so pretty, I want to dye everything in sight.  My sheets,… my curtains,… my towels,… my cat,….  Oh dear…

Hello, my name is Rachel Hulan, and I have a woad addiction.

Bet you would too!

Twill Textiles has just released a handsome new printed fabric collection by Peter Fasano.  Both Taconic Ticking & Taconic Stripe are printed on Belgium linen in 5 colorways: Mushroom, Sage, Straw, Lake, and Chinese Red.  Perfect for drapery or upholstery.  I love the way the printing highlights the texture of the fibers.

Contact Twill Textiles to learn about this and other sustainable fabric offerings.

PaperBoy was started by a mother (Victoria) who couldn’t find fun, good quality wallpaper for her boys bedroom. At least, wallpaper that wasn’t totally twee.  With her two six-year-old boys as critics, she set about coming up with hand-drawn images that combined classic ideas like dinosaurs and pets, with edgier imagery like graffiti and skeletons.  And thus was born Paperboy Wallpaper.

The funny thing is, that while parents might think these patterns are a bit too scary for their sweet little baboo, the kids really dig the imagery.  What dino loving kid wouldn’t want to imagine hanging out with them, like the boy in D’ya-think-e-saurus?

I can tell you just from the evidence in my 9 year old son’s pockets, that kids find skeletons fascinating.  I know he would LOVE to have a pillow with the Animal Magic print on it.

Hand screen printed on 100% Irish linen, these fabrics can be ordered in quantities as small as 1 m, so it’s easy to buy just enough to make a pillow. Or you could go all out, and by enough to make some really fun (and spooky) curtains.

And for those of you who find marauding dinosaurs, or skeletonized bunnies a bit too much, there are always the sweet shadow puppets of Hand Made.

Though for me personally, I’m all about the killer bunnies.

This morning it’s all sunshine and fluffy clouds, which is the perfect setting to think about springtime. In celebration of the change of seasons, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of my favorite floral prints in organic and sustainable fabrics. Enjoy!

Plover Organic, Pink Roses – 100% organic cotton

WonderFluffShop (Etsy seller), Aqua Daisies – 100% organic cotton

Harmony Art, 10 Flowers - 100% organic cotton

LIVE Textiles, Topiary – 100% organic linen

Ink & Spindle, Flowering Gum - organic cotton and hemp blend

Rubie Green, Marilyn – 100% organic cotton

Mod Green Pod, Bloom – 100% organic cotton

Do you have a favorite organic or sustainable floral fabric?  Let us know about it in the comments below.

I think I need to buy these adorable wool pillows by Cushlab, so I can put one over each ear.

And those aren’t the only fun, natural fiber pillows they have…

They also have this pair made of brightly colored wool felt, or…

these subtlety toned yet whimsical pillows, which look like an homage to the Slinky.

And this linen pillow, with its charming, floral applique in wool felt, is the epitome of Spring decor.

Says Becca, Cushlab founder and creative force -

“I have a great time designing, making and thinking about cushions, and can’t understand when people aren’t as obsessed by them as I am!”

Well Becca, if we could all make cushions as fun as yours, maybe we would be equally obsessed ourselves!

Based in Kent, UK, Cushlab is able to ship internationally, and will even take commissions for custom work.  They use wool felt and linen for the majority of their pillows, donating leftover scrap material to local schools for craft projects.

Uh oh!  I just heard the UPS truck…  Darn, it’s hard to type holding pillows to your ears.  Sigh.

We spend almost half of our lives in the bedroom so it is extremely important to use organic and toxin free products here!  You spend somewhere around 8 hours out of each and every day with your head on your pillow and your body wrapped up in your sheets and bedding.  What we sleep on is a very personal choice, everyone likes a certain type of pillow and a certain level of softness in their sheets and blankets.  When you are in the market for a new pillow look at the labels and strive for the most organic choice possible that suits your needs (I am still looking for the best organic/comfortable pillow I can find- have not found it yet!)

Sheets and bedding are another great place to start as it seems these are easier choices to make and we tend to change our bedding sets approximately every 2 years.  I have found that I love organic cotton sheets (my favorites are from Pottery Barn right now).  They are softer than any others that I have tried, wash beautifully and I sleep well with the comfort of knowing I have made a responsible choice.  I also love linen, and 100% organic linen is an amazing product.  I cannot wait to get my hands on a set of organic linen sheets and pillow cases.  They are durable, comfortable, and green and should last you many years.

Remember if you are going to treat yourself to organic cotton or linen sheets and bedding it will be an investment for your health and for the future.

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!

“I know”, they must have thought, “What if we use all this seaweed lying around on the sand, stick it on top of a coconut tree and call it a lamp?”*

Thankfully, the designers at Chista obviously waited till after vacation to put pen to paper, because the resulting lamps are quite elegant.  The bases are made of sustainable coconut wood, which gives them a wonderful grain pattern, as well as a pleasant warmth and character.  The shades are woven of seaweed and linen.  Yes, seaweed.  I admit to never having seen seaweed used in this way, but considering the results, I hope to see a lot more of it soon.

Founded in 1990, Chista’s designs are rooted in both primitivism and modernism.  They offer many styles of furniture and lighting, much of it from reclaimed wood or other sustainable sources.  They also showcase tribal art from Southeast Asia, which is on view at their website, or at their showroom in New York.  They are to the trade only.

As an aside, I would just like to say that I find it SO refreshing to get a nice, ad ready image of a lamp, and still see the cords showing.  So often, someone has either hidden them or Photoshopped them out.  Kudos to Chista for keeping it real!

* My apologies to the designers at Chista, because I’m sure that isn’t really how things happened.  I just didn’t get much sleep last night, and the scenario gave me the sleep deprived giggles, so I went with it.

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.