Rebecca Desnos

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My books on botanical dyeing…

How to dye fabric and yarn…

How to dye wood…

Plants Are Magic magazine…

The {independently published} magazine for makers, dreamers & plant lovers…

Recent Posts

  • Carve your own beads for dyeing
  • How to dye paper with natural dyes
  • The simplest paper mobile
  • The Nature Creative – An interview with The Dogwood Dyer
  • Painting with milk & dyeing with tea

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  • I did a bit of dyeing yesterday and experimented with a couple of herbs that I had in the kitchen. First I tried neem powder (which I bought last year to make a mouthwash) and moringa which I’ve recently fallen in love with. The dried moringa leaves make a delicious tea and the fine powder is fantastic stirred into most things, like porridge and yogurt. It’s an incredibly nutritious plant with very high levels of iron and many other nutrients. . These are the gentle colours from an overnight soak in the dye baths. The cotton and bamboo silk fabric were pretreated in soya milk using the usual method in my book (Botanical Colour at your Fingertips) and I used an aluminium pot (pot as mordant) as usual. . Both sets of fabric both have a slight scent, even after a thorough rinse. Neem is traditionally used as a dye in India within the branch of ayurveda called ayurvastra, and it has antibacterial properties that are infused into the fabric. Maybe you remember the article about this in the first edition of my magazine: Plants Are Magic? (It was published a couple of years ago, but it’s still available in my shop). . I’m looking forward to chatting to @nainaayurveda more about all of this. We plan to write a blog post together about using these plants 🌿 . Have you used either of these herbs before and what for? Are there any other medicinal or ayurvedic plants that you think would be interesting to dye with? 💚
  • Dyeing paper with botanical dyes ✨ I’ve just posted a new tutorial on my blog with a step-by-step guide. Pop across to www.rebeccadesnos.com/blog to have a look 💛 I used avocado skins for the pink and pomegranate skins for the yellow. The dyes were made really concentrated, just like I do when I dye wood. If you’ve read my new eBook Botanical Dyes on Wood, you’ll see that the key factor is using less water when you make your dye. Then you end up with a rich colour and it’s perfect for dyeing wood, paper or painting. 💚 The patterns were painted with milk on the paper before dyeing. Then the painted areas dye darker. You can do the same on fabric too! 🌿 This was so much fun, especially the dip dyed paper! Let me know if you try the method - I’d love to see!
  • If you fancy dyeing yourself a necklace with botanical dyes.. my new eBook Botanical Dyes on Wood will take you through the method step-by-step. ✨ These are simply plain untreated wooden beads (search online for some plain wooden beads to dye - lots of places sell them). I’ve dyed and painted these with pink avocado skin dye, as well eucalyptus leaf dye with iron added to shift the colour to grey. 🥑 The pink ribbon was dyed with avocado skins using the method in my first book Botanical Colour at your Fingertips. 🌱 Do you have any New Year crafting planned❓I admit I’m sooo desperate to make something.... my fingers are feeling a bit itchy. (Have I made up that saying?!) I have been doing a bit of baking and cooking lately which has felt really good. Sometimes we just have to go with the flow and do what we can manage 💛
  • Dye plant organisation 💫 . This afternoon I suddenly felt the urge to reorganise my dried dye plants. How do you store yours❓ . I had leaves and skins stashed in different rooms... but it’s so much more convenient to have everything grouped together. . So I’ll keep all of these dried plants in a cardboard box where they will keep nice and dry — the air flow helps. I also have a few paper envelopes of dried flowers that I saved from the summer (coreopsis and dyer’s chamomile). . It’s winter in the northern hemisphere so there aren’t as many plants outside to harvest, so it’s an ideal time to use dried plants that we have stashed away. . Starting at the top moving clockwise there are some tiny redwood cones, then alder cones, pomegranate skins, avocado skins, larger redwood cones, eucalyptus leaves, then of course lavender in the centre (which I’m saving for lavender pouches). . How do you store your dye plants❓ In boxes, bags, drawers or somewhere else❓ I’d love to hear your storage solutions ✨
  • Update: I wrote a full blog post with a very simple tutorial for making one of these wallhangings so pop over to my blog if you’re interested (www.rebeccadesnos.com/blog) 💚 . Merry Christmas 🎄 Hope you’re having a peaceful day, wherever you are in the world. My son and I made this star wallhanging together yesterday evening. We recycled some thick paper from a magazine and some old watercolour paintings and used thread and a branch from a weeping birch tree. . It’s about as Christmasy as I get - but this will probably stay up for a few weeks. I love seeing the stars move gently and the shadows change. . Do you have any crafting planned for later? 💛
  • I love seeing my top 9 photos at the end of each year ✨ Thanks to every single person who has liked or commented on photo, or sent me a message. I am so grateful for your incredible support this year ❤️ . Each of these photos brings back memories and I instantly want to make another botanical mandala and sew some mini quilts with my fabric swatches 😍 Maybe I’ll have time for one small project over Christmas - we’ll see 😉🤞 . What’s been your favourite project that you’ve done this year? Or did you experience a plant for the first time and have special memories?
  • I’m just packing up some necklaces from the mini IG sale I held on my Stories over the weekend. Thanks so much to everyone who supported my work 💌 I’ll try to do another one soon, if you’re interested 💛 . Dyeing beads and making necklaces with different colour combinations is one of my favourite crafts to do. I’d forgotten just *how* much I love it... Now that my eBook on dyeing wood is out there in the world, I’m allowing myself to enjoy making necklaces once again. It’s just incredibly soothing picking out different tones and putting them together on a string. . You can find my new eBook ‘Botanical Dyes on Wood’ on my website (www.rebeccadesnos.com/shop) . Maybe I even prefer dyeing wood to dyeing fabric 🙊 I’ve never said that before... but I adore making these necklaces! After I’ve strung beads on a cord in a new colour combination, I like to hold it in the light in different rooms and see how the tones sing together. Often it’s the subtle variations between colours and tones that make me the most excited. Do you do that with things too? 😄 . What are you making this weekend❓ I’d love to hear what’s in your dye pot and what you’re crafting. Happy Sunday to you 💛
  • Update - magazines back in stock 😊 . 💚 Important magazine announcement . Printed @plants_are_magic magazines are temporarily unavailable. Please read on for details 💛 . Unfortunately a printing and binding error was identified in a magazine (with the incorrect pages within a magazine) and until we can assess the extent of the issue and carefully check all magazine stock, no more magazines will be shipped. . If your magazine has not yet shipped, you will receive an email from us today to explain the potential issue and our apology for the shipping delay. I hope you agree that it’s much better to carefully check the stock before we potentially risk sending more magazines with this error. . If you recently received a magazine and notice an error, please email me a photo (using the email link within my IG profile page) to show the mismatch between front cover and inside title page. We will arrange for a replacement to be sent to you once the remaining stock of the magazines has been carefully checked. . Thank you for your patience and understanding whilst we rectify this issue. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience caused, especially just before the Christmas period. . In the meantime the digital magazines remain available for order and immediate download and you can use the coupon code THANKFUL10 for 10% off all eBooks and eMagazines 💌 . Thanks, Rebecca x

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