Plant Dyers: Natural Dyeing Artisans to Follow

The clothing industry is the second largest polluter in the world.  There are lots of small ways that we can help decrease this problem by recycling, upcycling, buying less and demanding more regulations within the industry.  But did you know that there is an entire community of textile, fabric and clothing brands who are taking responsibility for the lifecycle of the items they make. Clothing can now be a cradle-to-cradle purchase.

Whether it is made locally or abroad, buying clothes that are dyed using natural materials is a wonderful way to decrease the toxins and excess stuff demanded in our economy in our lives. In addition, it provides the ability for textiles to be cradle-to-cradle in a world where textiles 

While our list of natural dyers list is comprised of natural dyers from different parts of the world, we feel very aligned to these artisans by way of their intrinsic ability to help their regional communities. 

This is not a list of 'the best' natural dyers, simply a list of wonderful natural dyers to follow. The purpose of listing the makers below is to expose you to various natural dye creators and to showcase what the natural dyeing community is doing.

 1. Rebecca Desnos is an educator and teacher on natural plant dyeing.  She wrote, Botanical Colour at your Fingertips, which is a guide for beginners to learn natural textile dyeing. Rebecca also publishes a magazine called Plants are Magic. Paperback book and magazine are both available in electronic format. Follow Rebecca on Instagram: Rebecca Desnos

2. Botanical Colors has a wide range of products and services for artisans and business, including creating custom colors, product sampling, assisting natural dye production and general guidance and consulting services. There are a lot of instructional tutorials on the website, where you can also purchase a myriad of natural dyes. View Botanical Colors

3. Willow Knows creates beautiful, one of a kind clothing and objects using naturally dyed textiles. Jessica Breed, founder of Willow Knows also offers consulting, styling, art direction and branding services. View Willow Knows

4. Northern Dyer is focused on creating ethically sourced, organic, locally grown and zero-waste dye products. Libby London, founder of Northern Dyer, also founded a farm incubator to support emerging designers in the natural dyeing space. Northern Dyer runs natural dye workshops and runs a custom natural dye lab.  View Northern Dyer

5. Stick & Stone Designs has a small assortment of scarves and home goods showcasing founder, Emilie Didyoung's use of naturally dyed textiles. Stick & Stone Designs is constantly working with age old processes to create contemporary items. Follow on Instagram: Stick and Stone Designs 

6. Audrey Louise Reynolds, ALR, has a small collections of clothing, but spends most of her time developing natural dyes using a myriad of materials such as minerals, seaweed, squid ink, coral, shells, plankton and flowers.  ALR sells pre-packaged natural dyes easy enough to use with children. Follow on Instagram: ALR
 

7. Mycopigments uses funghi and lichen to create a wide variety of naturally dyed colors. Alissa Allen, founder of Mycopigments leads a  workshops, classes, lectures and nature walks to understand wild mushrooms. Mycopigments focuses on regional fungal dye palettes and travels worldwide to lead sessions. Mycopigments runs a Trading Post on Facebook for mushroom foragers. Follow Alissa on Instagram: Mycopignments

8. Christine Lewis Studio was inspired by using kitchen waste for extracting natural dyes. Christine creates a lovely assortment of home goods for which she uses garden plants and kitchen waste.  Christine especially likes to use berries, barks, flowers and vegetables. Follow Christine on Instagram: Christine Lewis Studio.

9. Alice Fine offers another unique perspective on using naturally dyed textiles. Alice hand dyes kimonos using all natural materials. Alice has a small collection of apparel. In additional, Alice has a project whereby she creates patterns by copying and evolving dyeing techniques.  View Alice Fine  

10. Camellia Fiber Company creates high end hand-dyed fibers and handspun yarns. Camellia Fiber Company offers worldwide classes, private lessons and workshops for naturally hand-dyed textiles.   

Again, this is just a sampling of the natural dyeing community to give you an idea of how varied projects can be.  If you'd like to make a recommendation, we'd love to hear from you via email or DM.  If you like what you find, do let us know by submitting a comment below!

The Fibershed: Supporting Local Communities 
The Danger of Synthetically Dyed Textiles