Aurora Silk stocks an ever expanding selection of Naturally Dyed colours on our exceptional fabrics. These are truly Naturally Dyed, using plants, plant extracts, mineral salts and the precious cochineal.
Please read: “The Ecology of Colour” and “About Natural Dyes” articles, as well as a few of the tutorials, if you are not familiar with the wonderful beauty and radiant health giving properties of truly Natural Dye Colours.
(Scroll down for more information on the colours, by colour)
Charmeuse Silk: Rose Red; Indigo Dark "Peace" Blue; Shimmer Sunshine Yellow; Blackest Black
Eri Peace Silk: Indigo Dark "Peace" Blue; Therapeutic (no mordant) Gold; Soft Black; Lavender Grey; Sage or Soft Green; Purple Haze.
Light and Bright Tussah Silk: Black; Coral; Light Sage; Old Rose; Flame; Charcoal; Indigo Blue
Ahimsa Peace silk: Indigo Blue; Dark Charcoal
Certified Organic Cotton: Blackest Black; Turkey Red; Sage Green; Lavender; Eco-bleach white; Indigo Blue
"Rustique" Cotton: Mandala Block Print; Yarn Dyed Organic Cotton
NOTE: virtually ALL FABRICS can be dyed for you in our Indigo dark "Peace" Blue.
Care for Naturally Dyed Fabrics: Naturally dyed fabrics are pre-shrunk by the dye process. Fabrics are sent folded and may need ironing. Machine wash: gentle cycle, warm water, very mild soap. Tumble dry on low heat. Do not overdry. For smoothest finish, iron from barely damp state on "wrong" side of fabric.
Care for your Naturally Dyed Fabrics with Love, for they are precious treasures of textile art.
Cheryl Kolander is a Senior Natural Dyer in the world today. She has personally Naturally Dyed tons of yarn, fibre and fabrics over her 40 year professional career. Cheryl still does the hard physical labour of hand dyework, and is now arranging for an even greater volume of offerings of beautiful and fantastic colours, dyed by the bolt or by the piece. " I owe it all to weight training at my gym: the Olympus Gym on MLK in Portland!"-Cheryl (who last year thought she might have to retire!)
Dyework is being done at Cheryl's Portland Oregon Natural Dye studio, which has had the same location for 25 years. In addition, Indigo and some other colours are now being done at the Tyria House just off MLK in North Portland (434 NE Buffalo Street; open house on Tuesday afternoons).
All dyestuffs used are of the highest quality of what we sell, and are thus the highest quality on the planet. "I only sell what I use and I only use the best!" is Cheryl's motto.
All the Indigo is thus guaranteed to be 100% natural Indigo, of the finest quality, and 100% naturally fermented. This pure process is accomplished in only a handful of small dyeworks, worldwide. (All others accomplish the necessary reduction thru the use of chemicals, usually hypo-sulphites that, at the least, are injurious to the health of the dyer.) Aurora Silk’s Indigo Peace Blue is fermented using only Madder root, wheat bran and washing soda.
By-the-bolt colours are dyed with machine assists, but all the work is done in small operations and is hand tended. Occasionally, for large orders, some colours can be dyed by a sympathetic Greek in New York City’s garment district. He was formerly a natural dyer in his homeland, and has great empathy for the process. In that case, the colours are all formulated by Master Natural Dyer Cheryl Kolander, dyes are furnished by Aurora Silk and the detailed formulas are followed carefully. All formulas are proprietary to Aurora Silk. You will find these colours no where else.
India, being a source for many of the best Natural Dyes, is naturally the location for several potential Natural Dyeworks. These Natural Dyeworks have been PERSONALLY VISITED AND CERTIFIED by Cheryl Kolander, Master Natural Dyer. They range from well capitalized machine-assisted dyeworks to "village level minimal-water all hand processed". The former can create colours that are industrially even, while the latter create colours full of texture, character and “Abrajz”.
INDIGO PEACE BLUE
Thanks to the excellent dyework of Aurora Silk’s apprentice Will Stanley, we can now offer Indigo Peace Blue on virtually all our exceptional fabrics. We keep a stock in Eri Peace silk, Ahimsa Peace silk, Light and Bright Tussah,
organic cotton, Ahimsa Pebble Weave and Charmeuse silk.
THERAPEUTIC GOLD
This is a unique colour in that it is bright and rich, yet is dyed without any mordant. We offer this in stock on Eri Peace silk, and can special dye most fabrics.
BRIGHT YELLOW
Dyed with Fusticwood from the Dominican Republic "Better than Fair Trade" Logwood Project. The colours is luminous, supremely attractive and the best counter to the Winter Blues (Seasonal Affective Disorder). "On Hand" in Charmeuse Silk.
BLACK
Achieving a black is the most time consuming and costly of all the colours with Natural Dyes. A Master Natural Dyer in India is producing a magnificent Black on certified organic cotton for us. The same dye on the Light and Bright Tussah produces both a black-black and a dark charcoal. Black or Dark Charcoal can be special ordered on a number of fabrics from India.
In small lots, black is done by Cheryl Kolander in Portland, using Logwood from the "Better than Fair Trade" Logwood Project. Stocked in Eri silk and Pebble Weave Ahimsa.
RED
Red with Natural Dyes is also a costly and time consuming colour to achieve on cotton. The dyeworks that does our black has been able to reproduce a true “Turkey Red” – the famous red seen on antique quilts. On the Light and Bright Tussah the colour is a gorgeous Flame.
Ruby is a rich crimson red perfected for silk evening wear. A special formulation has given this colour excellent fastness to acids and washing. The fabric is satin Charmeuse silk. The new colour "Rose Red" is a re-formulation using Lac. It is more permanent to light so can be recommended for dye wear.
Yarn dyed red cottons are woven using many dye-lots of shades and hues, so they delight the eye with their colour- texture. We call these “Rustique” yarn dyed cottons and there is a range of shades.
GREEN
Soft greens are dyed by first dyeing a gold, then adding iron to turn the gold to green. Aurora silk now offers sage greens on on organic cotton and Light and Bright Tussah.
Truely garden tones of greens are done with Indigo and Fusticwood and they match the vibrancy of a woodsey setting in sunlight. Filled with variegation, almost looking "tie-dye" each dyelot is a unique creation. "ON HAND" in Eri, soft, wild silk.
VIOLETS, LAVENDERS and PURPLES
Mungeet = Indian Madder is the basis of this range of shades and hues. Lavender on organic cotton, especially nice for children’s wear; Violet on Light and Bright Tussah.
BLOCK PRINTED
On a tan base, printing is done by hand with unique new blocks. All printing is Naturally Dyed. Meditation Mandala is our first all-over hand block print and is done on Rustique Cotton, hand spun and handwoven in India.
Good -4-U Clothing is all hand block printed, free style, as part of Aurora Silk's "Better than Free Trade" Artist Empowerment Project.
OTHER COLOURS
Cheryl is always inventing new colours. We will add these to our offerings as capital allows. Let us know what colors you would like to see in stock.
CUSTOM NATURAL DYED COLOURS
Designers may consult with Cheryl to formulate colours especially for you. Minimums apply and plenty of time must be allocated for the process.
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