In the four years I’ve called Community First! Village home, I haven’t had much room for sewing or weaving. However, I’ve had access to abundant outdoor space, and so while my farmer-husband has handled growing our vegetables, I’ve cultivated several experimental textile crops: first cotton, and then dye plants. Two years ago, I received seeds… Continue reading Uprooting
Category: natural dyeing
The Epiphany of our Lord
January 6 marks the Feast of the Epiphany, when the child Jesus was revealed to the Magi from the east. I made these felt Magi for my mother as part of a larger nativity scene last Christmas. I used the instructions and patterns from Salley Mavor's marvelous Wee Felt Folk. The wool felt was either… Continue reading The Epiphany of our Lord
Indigo & Advent
There's something fitting about drying leaves & harvesting seeds during Advent. Both are works of patience, preparation, and hope.
Texts & Textiles: Edward Taylor
Make me, O Lord, thy Spining Wheele compleate. Thy Holy Worde my Distaff make for mee. Make mine Affections thy Swift Flyers neate And make my Soule thy holy Spoole to bee. My Conversation make to be thy Reele And reele the yarn thereon spun of thy Wheele. Make me thy Loome then, knit therein… Continue reading Texts & Textiles: Edward Taylor
Harvey meets the Dye Garden
Living on the east side of Austin, we received quite a lot of Hurricane Harvey's wind and rain this weekend. Though the Village was spared the flooding that continues to threaten so many of the communities between here and Houston, we did endure some wind gusts as high as 25mph. We could certainly feel the… Continue reading Harvey meets the Dye Garden
The Dye Garden in July
While this summer's dye garden is a little rag-tag, I'm proud to have it out at all, and I'm already thinking through how I'd like to cultivate it in the long-term.
Book Review: Harvesting Color
This book is useful, true, and it cultivates a wise imagination. Its power to train our vision and desire makes it worthwhile reading even for someone who wouldn't otherwise pick up a volume on natural dyes.
Planting a Dye Garden
Last week, the Associated Press distributed an article on planting a natural dye garden. I have a Google alert set for any news stories on with the keywords "natural dye," so I was pleased to see a number of papers pick up the story, including The Washington Post. The story, which you can read here, gives… Continue reading Planting a Dye Garden
