Natural indigo is such a beautiful colour.
natural colours
All canary thread is naturally dyed organic cotton. See every colour on the sidebar menu.
indigo ikat thread
Several layers of overdye, with two sections left blue. The short space between blues is 12″, the longer space is 32″.
sewing with the birds
It is nice to set up the treadle machine outside. Canary thread works well in the made-in-Guelph Raymond, which has a shuttle style bobbin. The peacock decals on the machine bed have worn off. The leather belt needed tightening. These pliers are made to cut hide belts (industrial ones are thicker and were originally buffalo),…… Continue reading sewing with the birds
boro time
Love of handstitching, indigo, Japanese textiles and mending inevitably leads to boro, from the Japanese boroboro – something tattered or repaired. It was traditionally done with hemp. I adapted it for my merino wool jersey tights, using scraps dyed with indigo, sumac and black walnuts. Boro is historically associated with peasant farm workers, who patched…… Continue reading boro time
Goethe’s mystic colour theory
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published Theory of Colours in 1810. He disagreed with Isaac Newton’s famous 1672 optical spectrum analysis, and was more interested in how colour is perceived. Enlightenment artists and scientists were very engaged with quantifying colour. In 1708, French painter Claude Boutet based the above wheels on Newton’s findings. In 1775, Austrian…… Continue reading Goethe’s mystic colour theory
canary 