The Permacouture Institute’s Dinner To Dye For makes one appreciate how clothes get color.

Armed with stacks of foraged plants from around the canals of London, Katelyn Toth-Fejel explains how manufacturers refuse to disclose the ingredients of synthetic fabric dyes. “We don’t know what’s in them,” she says. “It could be anything.”

So began Dinner to Dye For, a workshop run by the Permacouture Institute, an organization that seeks a truly holistic approach to fashion where nature and culture nestle side by side instead of battling each other head-on. The institute is a transatlantic operation, with education programs in both the UK and U.S. Their courses span small scale school projects to university programs, marking seeds at seed libraries for their fiber and dying potential to running workshops like Dinner to Dye For.

Alongside her role as European co-director of the Permacouture Institute, Oregon-born Katelyn is also an artist and lecturer with an obsession for plants and natural science, and can rattle off chemical reactions with ease, giving them context and meaning and even humor.

At the workshop, Katelyn explains how mauve was the first synthetic dye, accidentally created from coal-tar in 1860, and how its discovery very quickly triggered a revolution in fabric production leading to today’s highly industrialized, highly chemical dying industry. She also describes her time in India in the fabric dying districts of Delhi, watching gallons of effluent being poured directly into the streets, a toxic run-off leaching wherever it wanted to go.

This particular workshop is held at Here Today Here Tomorrow, a sustainable fashion shop and studio in Dalston, London. On the table are three metal pots, each filled with boiling water and in turn filled with fennel, cowslip and blackberry, all plants that grow in abundance around London in the summer, creeping through cracks in the paths and overrunning any tiny patch of earth visible on the city streets.

We are given swatches of silk and wool and encouraged to fold, knot and clamp the fabric before dipping them into the steaming vats. Katelyn tells us she became fascinated with natural dying after taking a mandatory science class as part of her arts degree, during which she accidentally created beautiful red shades out of madder. In the meantime, my silk, soaking in the fennel stew, begins turning a vibrant, shocking shade of yellow.

We remove our fabrics from the dyes and rinse them once in a tiny sink. “If you were using synthetic dyes you’d need to rinse them with about twenty pan-fulls of water,” Katelyn says, pointing to a ten liter pot. One can’t help but think how much water consumption is a resource being over abused just knowing this fact. We move forward, channeling our kindergarten selves and make potato stamps, using an iron paste to make the dye go darker in places, creating patterns along our fabrics.

Talk about sustainable fashion is often focused on what the fabrics are made from, how sustainable the feedstock is, how the people are treated all along the supply chain. While these are undeniably important, it is easy to overlook one of the most fundamental aspects of our clothing: what color is it? How was that color made?

Natural dyes do come with problems. You can’t get the range of colors available with synthetic dyes, plants have to be sustainably sourced, there is a lack of consistency between batches. But synthetic dyes are also not perfect: they fade over time and with washing, they can be polluting and, as established, a little enigmatic when it comes to constituent parts.

With our swatches drying we sit down to eat. A bread course with sorrel butter, the leaves foraged alongside the other plants, a quiche with polenta pastry, courgette blossoms and fennel, and for desert sour lemon pots with sweet and succulent blackberries, the fruits of the brambles used in the earlier dying session. The food is delicious, conversation interesting. We take time to eat slowly.

Permacouture’s Dinner To Dye For

“It’s a totally closed loop system,” Katelyn says. “We’re using weeds to color fabrics and feed ourselves and any left overs are turned back into soil.”

It’s a method that can be scaled up too. One project Katelyn witnessed in France involved making dyes from waste materials and bi-products from existing industries such as farming. While it doesn’t always make sense to use a natural dye over synthetic, Katelyn says they are just one alternative, in the same way that wind is one alternative to coal.

And of the fascination with naturally dyed clothes: “The colors never come out exactly the same. When you look at the fabrics they aren’t one single color like on clothes you would buy, they’re made up of hundreds of shades. It just feels more special this way.”

Dinner to Dye For is run by the Permacouture Institute. Go to their site to learn more about upcoming workshops.

All images: Katelyn Toth-Fejel Co-Founder of the Permacouture Institute

ExclusiveInterview with a leading slow fashion expert.

If late February finds you rather lackluster and beaten down, we just might have a cure for what ails you. Sasha Duerr of the Permacouture Institute recently released her new book, The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes, and it is a true cornucopia of slow fashion goodness and ‘soil to studio’ guidance. Sasha is one of the leading experts on natural plant dyes and home-brewed recipes for creating customized color palettes that also touch on eco-literacy and bio-regional awareness. Identifying non-toxic dye materials that reside in your own kitchen, garden, or urban plot goes hand in hand with all of the focus and research one might put into shopping for and preparing organic foods. This is the first book that really highlights why fashion and food are intertwined, and why we can no longer afford to view textiles and clothing as something other than the underlying fiber of our everyday lives and shared communities.

The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes: Personalize Your Craft with Organic Colors from Acorns, Blackberries, Coffee, and Other Everyday Ingredients might seem like a mouthful to some, but for artist and educator Duerr, it is vital that everyone celebrate the creative possibilities that exist in those findable organic materials that are very much a part of our long history with natural gardening and textiles. Granted, this Bay Area resident has loads of greenery and inspiration in the foothills of her community, but she will also be the first to admit that time outside in pristine nature is not the only way to re-connect with our environs and those traditions that might help us to revive plant dye knowledge.

I have always loved that Sasha does not have to hunt very far to locate indigenous plants (often called ‘weeds’) or resuscitate kitchen goods (coffee or onion skins) that magically find new life with just the right application of expertise. Her visually alluring book wisely takes the mystery out of dye alchemy so that everyone feels empowered to do the right thing, even if you opt to not try the recipes for some time. I, for one, would consider using this book as a text book in any sustainable fashion course, principally as a means to create a greater awareness about how accessible and affordable eco-fashion truly is.

An Exclusive Q & A with Sasha Duerr:

In an interview with the book’s publisher, Timber Press, Sasha explains why she initiated this project and what role it might play in our relationship with coloring fashion:

“The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes is about experimentation with organic color recipes from my own kitchen, garden, and community. Books and information on natural dyes are diverse, and dye-producing plants and color recipes differ from region to region. As my love of natural color grew, I realized that many dye recipes have been lost to particular cultures and areas of the world. Through creative re-engagement we can begin to revive these recipes and reconnect with the long history of handmade beautiful and non-toxic color sources.“

Plant-based color essentially yields a complex brew of aesthetic and environmental benefits that toxic and synthetic dyes simply do not. Plant hues are far more varied and complimentary in palette and might be compared to a naturally occurring rainbow where all of the edges overlap and intermingle in the most mesmerizing way. Chemical dyes, in addition to being extremely harmful to work with and wear, are far more limited in their range of tonality and subtlety.

Sasha elaborated on her love for plant-based color and the unique creative and environmental possibilities via her blog:

“Plant-based dyes offer colors that are unusual, varied, and vibrant. Natural dyes harmonize with each other in a way that only botanical colors can. A natural dye, a red for example, will include hints of blue and yellow, whereas a chemically produced red dye contains only a single red pigment, making the color less complex. Even mixing synthetic dyes can rarely if ever achieve the range of shades that natural dyes possess. When you work with organic botanical color sources, you are literally working with living color. The unique qualities of naturally dyed textiles can often make the color vibrate or glow. Plant-based dyes also offer an ecologically friendly alternative to synthetic dyes because they come from plants, which can be renewable non-toxic resources and biodegradable.”

As a fiber lover and on-going student of sustainable textile methods and innovation, I asked Sasha these specific questions as part of an exclusive interview for EcoSalon readers.

EcoSalon: Are the recipes and projects in your new book for the beginner or individuals who have some experience with natural plant dyes/fiber?

Sasha: I aimed to do a combination of recipes for the beginner and advanced dyer. I wanted to offer an easy and accessible way for the beginning dyer to achieve beautiful and satisfying results without a lot of effort, and at the same time offer the more experienced dyer a plethora of plants they may not actually have thought of as dye producers. I also wanted to present everyone with more socially or environmentally engaged ways of working with one’s dye practice; for instance, teaching out of your local community garden, seed saving, helpful tips for mapping your neighborhood, offering fiber and dye plant exchanges, or uncovering long lost dye recipes from your family tree and native bio-region.

EcoSalon: What is one of the most commonly misunderstood plants (“weeds”) in your opinion, in relation to its amazing properties and qualities?

Sasha: We are currently working with what we call our “seasonal yellow” which, depending on what time of year the garment is dyed, uses a prevalent invasive weed in Northern California which is where I live  - such as Oaxalis or fennel (dry or wet season respectively!) to produce a super bright fluorescent hue. It’s a great way to think about color, and a useful way to use a weed that needs to be eradicated before it hits the compost pile so that a more bio-diverse natural habitat can thrive.

Another “weed” I love is nettle, as it can be a healing medicinal herb, delicious iron fortified food, and both a wonderful dye AND fiber plant. Any unsuspecting plant with which you can stack functions (i.e. use in multiple ways) is a value to both nature and culture in immeasurable ways.

EcoSalon: Are urban dwellers a part of the natural plant dye scene/movement as much as non-city dwellers?

Sasha: Absolutely. Connecting urban dwellers to natural dyes and eco-literacy through fashion and textiles is one of my ultimate loves and one of the reasons that I started the Permacouture Institute.  I visited the wonderful Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn last night for a book event, and there was an impressive turnout of local New York natural-dye enthusiasts. The Textile Arts Center is also actively working on planting a dye garden on their block and connecting students and textile artists to urban community gardens through natural color. This is something we strongly advocate through our work with the Permacouture Institute. We work closely with garden projects in Oakland and London, both very urban locations for plant dyers.

I am also very interested in bi-products and waste products of urban places that can produce dye colors…cities are excellent places to connect with florists, restaurants, herbalists and urban parks to discover what urban plant bi-products can be unique and brilliant sources of color. To quote a great permaculture saying, “If its not in production it becomes pollution.”

EcoSalon: Is there such a thing as  a natural/organic mordant?

Sasha: As far as botanical based mordants (non-metal based binders that help the dye hold to the fiber), many of the plants that I like to work with actually contain mordants in them naturally without additive—any leaves with plenty of tannins or Oaxalis fit that bill! Oak galls and acorns work well as botanical based mordants, and I am just starting to experiment with other natural methods of mordanting, such as working with protein bases like soy. The metals only ones I ever work with as mordants are alum and iron, those are the only mordants I advise using in my classes and in my book. They still need to be treated with care and used sparingly. But wow, there are so many natural dye books that should be used with extreme caution because they suggest using toxic heavy metal mordants such as chrome and tin, especially books from the 60′s’ and 70′s, which badly need environmental updating. The exciting thing is that there is a lot of experimentation being done to move into better ways of working in sync  with healthy plants for you and the environment and your textiles which have a wide range of gorgeous color and are not dependent on heavy metals. This is what excites me about moving the field of natural dyeing forward in a healthy and sustainable way.

EcoSalon: For Adie + George collections, do you think about the palette first or do you experiment with natural plant dyes that suit the season, and then build the collection around your slow fashion process discoveries?

Sasha: I am continually experimenting with seasonal color, and I’m very excited about the new plants I’ve been trying.  For Adie+George’s  AW11′ collection my obsession was working with avocado pits, which in California are an ongoing commodity and restaurant waste bi-product. I have also gotten really into what we call our “seasonal yellow”- either Oaxalis (Sourgrass) or Fennel, both bright florescent yellows made from invasive Californian weeds that dovetail each other in the wet and dry seasons in Northern California.  It’s always a combination of plants I have fallen in love with and the colors they produce worked well with fall fashion forecasting and with the designs and fibers Casey and I choose for the collection. Of course I always love seeing that the “avocado pit” palette is trendy on the runways in Denmark too, even though the plant originated very locally for us in Northern California.

As a co-founders of California-produced sustainable fashion label, Adie + George, Sasha Duerr and her design partner Casey Larkin have been able to put all of this ‘to-dye-for’ knowledge to the test, and the results have been both stunning and empowering when it comes to bringing fashion back to its roots. Adie + George’s locally-produced and plant-dyed knitwear uniquely demonstrates that fashion, beauty, and responsible production can all co-exist without compromise. Our Fashion Editor, Amy DuFault, viewed Adie + George’s Fall 2011 collection at this past weekend’s NOW Showcase in NYC, and  had this to say:

“It was truly a stand out line for me based on the fact that they’d created such lovely, feminine silhouettes and truly organic-driven color. Given the thoughtful context from which the brand is born, it stands out as a very progressive line to watch.”

To learn more about future book signings and projects related to the Permacouture Institute, you can contact them via their website or follow their blog.

Images courtesy of Sasha Duerr/Permacouture Institute, Tristan Davison, and EcoSalon’s Fashion Editor, Amy DuFault.

There’s always something going on in the fashion world despite the crowned achievements of fashion weeks and celebrity collaborations taking center stage.

For instance, a good contest for budding designers to partake in, news so juicy you won’t be able to stop talking about it and of course, a trend someone has picked up on that you had on your radar but didn’t quite know how to make it sustainable.

Here’s a little overview of some of our favorite blogs covering fashionable things.

Ecouterre’s Denim Challenge sponsored by the Gap, garnered a slew of very talented submissions that you can peruse here. Tough decisions to be made for the Ecouterre staff and judges (shh, one is me) but the grand prize winner will be showcased on Ecouterre, Inhabitat, and the Gap 1969 Stream, as well as receive a $200 gift certificate. While lucky finalists will get their name, design, and a link to their portfolio or website showcased on Ecouterre and the Gap 1969 Stream and a fancy new Ecouterre t-shirt.

(See image above from the challenge and definitely one of my top picks. Wide leg jeans can do that?!)

Burda Image

BurdaStyle’s Party Through The Decades contest sponsored by Bernina. The contest is open to BurdaStyle members (reason to join now?) and will serve to be an exciting platform to showcase “Your joie de vivre in a fabulous party look,” says creative director and site editor Alison Kelly (you might remember her name from Project Runway years ago?)

Check out Alison’s favorite party looks spawning over the past few decades on the site.

FIT Image

The Eco-Fashion: Going Green exhibit over at FIT will be wrapping up on November 13th so get on over there to witness first hand the information and actual garments thathighlight both the positive and negative environmental practices of the fashion industry through the ages.

Treehugger writes here about how you can get an “Earthy education” by attending.

Paige Green Image

Educating yourself about eco-fashion and developing a consciousness about it is half the challenge, living it is quite the other. Many challenges are out there right now to live a more simple fashion life but when I saw this Fibershed challenge I realized I needed to step it up.

The Fibershed challenge “Is inspired by the need to swing the pendulum of our production – and our consumption to a more balanced state, that supports the health of all humans and the greater ecological system of which we are apart; through the re-integration of organic fibers, natural dyes, and a regional base that supports local communities and economies,” says the site.

The challenge to live for one year in clothing made from fibers within a geographical region 150 miles from founder Rebecca Burgess’ front door. You can go to the site and pledge money which will go to:

Pay Farmers fairly for their fiber
Pay local mill to process the fibers
Pay for professional documentation of the project- photo and film
Pay for knit patterns to be drafted and samples to be created

Go to Fibershed now and pledge!

Vogue Image

On the other end of the fashion spectrum, we have Anna Wintour and Vogue. I love this post by writer Johanna Bjork from Concrete Flower on “Vogue’s Vague Eco-Fashion Foray,” where Vogue supreme goddess Anna Wintour has finally discovered eco-fashion, but, well, doesn’t know what it is.

Bjork writes of the sustainable choices Vogue picked: “A steep price tag is just not enough to make something eco. While some of these materials may be better than their alternatives, most of these fashion houses make loads of crap from ‘conventional’ materials, probably in Asian factories. One eco piece does not make up for all the rest. We call this greenwashing.”

Here, here. Anna, call me.

She’s pushing petals again, that Amy Butler, introducing fabulously feminine and bold wool carpets that are blooming in late August. These are great handcrafted picks for perking up an existing space. You got the sofa, you got the pillows, you got the hot date. Now you need a flirty-perty rug, right?

The new line of 19 patterns in the Amy Butler for Chandra collection borders on the exotic with a modern scale and lively depth of field. If the motifs look familiar, it’s because we’ve shown you her similar bedding designs which smack of India chic. The organic bedding is sold at Bed, Bath and Beyond. The carpets complete the totality of the Butler bedroom.

“I had so much fun designing this line and learning about a whole new industry,” says Butler, otherwise known as the queen of Midwest modern style . “I even got to visit India to see rugs being made and meet the people who make it all happen – it was an amazing experience! I loved seeing each step in the process, the care and detail that goes into each rug is stunning.”

The rugs are 100% handmade from New Zealand Wool and semi-sustainable using no harsh chemical washes, the industry’s safest chrome dyes and natural latex adhesive.

Go to Butler’s site to see a slideshow of the rugs or order a carpet brochure.