Hand spinning naturally dyed wool in Kullu, Himalchal Pradesh, India.

Kamal Kishore had never intended to start a natural dye hand knit sweater business. He was busy making honey in the small Himalayan town, Kullu. To keep his bees happily fed he had planted a large selection of roses. At the end of one growing season he casually wondered to himself if the spent rose petals had any use. To make a long story short he now uses these spent rose petals to dye different shades of soft greens as well as using a myriad of different natural dyes for a truly beautiful collection of colours

Pung conducting a dye workshop on the Island of Sumba, Indonesia.

I Madé Maduarta (Pung)is a co-founder of Threads of Life and staff ethnobotanist. He is also the Manager of Yayasan Pecinta Budaya Bebali, the sister organization to Threads of Life, a textile art centre that is situated in the enchanting town of Ubud, renowned as a cultural haven on the Indonesian Island of Bali. Pung heads the natural dye research and works closely with natural dyers and weavers in Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Flores, West Timor and on other remote Islands in Indonesia. He specializes in naturally fermented indigo and morinda dyeing on cotton and silk yarn. With extensive knowledge of local dye plants and complicated traditional dye techniques he is helping to revitalize an important aspect of the rich textile heritage of Indonesia.

Pak Cok conducting an indigo dye workshop, Bali.

Tjok Agung Pemayun (Pak Cok) is from a small village in Bali called Pejeng Pura Kebo Edan. Initially he worked for many years as an accountant and then his interest in indigo dyeing took him in a completely new direction. He and his wife, Tjokorda Agung Rusuma Punayung, now work with local villagers creating naturally dyed batiks as well as collaborating with international textile designers to create naturally dyed textiles.

Ibu Wayan Jabel wearing one of her geringsing cloths.

Ibu Wayan Jabel is one of the rare weavers and dyers in the world that practices the textile art form of double Ikat, a time consuming process of tying and dyeing vertical and horizontal threads and then precisely weaving them together. Ibu Wayan Jabel is from a small village called Tenganan on the Island of Bali where the women of this village weave some of the most important ceremonial fabrics in Bali, Geringsing cloths, which are now famous around the world among textile enthusiasts and collectors. The Hindu god Indra is honoured by traditional weavers with creating the intricate and magical designs. It is believe that the combination of these sacred designs and the healing properties of the natural dyes imbue these cloths with protective powers.

Datin Amar Margaret Linggi (far left) participating in indigo dye workshop at the Tun Jugah Foundation 2004

The late Datin Amar Margaret Linggi was a 6th generation weaver who grew up in the district of Julau Sarawak. She devoted much of her life to help preserve and keep alive the Iban textile culture in Borneo, Malaysia. As Director of Textile with the Tun Jugah Foundation in Kuching, Borneo, Malaysia, she created the Pua Gallery that displays traditional Iban textiles, some dating back 300 years. Next to the gallery is a weaving studio where the tradition of Iban Pua, (meaning blanket) weaving is practiced today. Datin Margaret was remarkable for her ability to organize large natural dye and weaving workshops, bringing together traditional Iban dyers and weavers from all over Sarawak, many coming from remote longhouses deep in the rainforest jungle who had to travel for days to reach Kuching. Datin Margaret will be sorely missed by many, Iban weavers as well as textile lovers everywhere. Her book, ‘Ties That Bind’ – Iban Ikat Weaving, documenting seventy Pua blankets and giving in-depth descriptions of the dye and weaving process is invaluable and her work to revive this art form is set to continue with the next generation of weavers

Mariko Shibata standing in front of her field of Polygonum tinctorium indigo.

Mariko Shibata began working with natural dyes in 1991 while living in Sendai, a city in northern Japan. Designing naturally dyed silk scarves became such a passion for Mariko she eventually decided to find a home in the country where she could grow, harvest and prepare her own dyes, in particular, the indigo plant, Polygonum tinctorium. She did make the move to the country and continues today to design scarves and gives workshops in the art of natural dyeing.

A Black Hmong traditional weaver weaving hemp fabrics to then be dyed indigo blue black.

In Northern Vietnam close to the Chinese boarder there is a small town called Sapa, situated high in the mountains and surrounded by breath-takingly beautiful undulating terraced rice fields. The majority of rice farmers in this area come from the ethnic group called the Black Hmong. The name, Black, refers to the colour of their clothing that is dyed a rich indigo midnight blue black. Indigo dye vats are found in most Black Hmong households in the villages surrounding Sapa, extraordinary in this day and age! The dyeing is conducted by the women and they continue to use the same naturally fermented dye techniques that date back thousands of years. The Black Hmong still wear their wonderful and intricately appliqué indigo dyed traditional outfits throughout the year.

Patricia Cheesman demonstrating naturally fermented indigo dyeing.

After many years of researching natural dyes in Asia, Patricia Cheesman was the first natural dyer that I met who practices the art of environmentally friendly indigo dyeing. Why is it so hard to find a dyer like her you might ask? Naturally fermented indigo dyeing is time consuming and requires a great deal of experience and know how to maintain the right balance of ingredients that are added daily to the dye vat in order to keep it alive, most natural dyers that use indigo today by pass this lengthy process and instead add a chemical called sodium hydrosulfite that renders the complicated and delicate stage of fermentation unnecessary. Sodium hydrosulfite is however potentially hazardous and environmentally toxic. Patricia is one of the few who do not use such a short cut, and she generously offered to teach me how to make the indigo pigment from fresh leaves and how to prepare the dye vat in a process that does not involve the use of any environmentally hazardous chemicals. Patricia spent most of her life in Asia, growing up in North Borneo, she worked with the UN in Laos for nine years overseeing ceramic development projects. In 1985 Patricia settled in Thailand and has since lectured on Tai textiles, ceramics and contemporary design at the Chiang Mai University. In 1986 she founded Weavers for the Environment to offer training and employment to local villagers. In the same year Patricia opened a shop called Studio Naenna selling her own original clothing and shawl designs, specializing in mat mi (weft ikat) weaving. The shop is situated just outside the city centre of Chiang Mai in the enchanting misty Northern Mountains of Thailand. Patricia’s latest publication is a book called Lao – Tai Textiles, The textiles of Xam Nuea and Muang Phuan. It is the culmination of 29 years of academic and field research and is truly a tour de force.