Visit to Lincoln

Today is a much anticipated event in Lincoln, NE. Jay Rich will be lecturing on Referencing and Replicating Japanese Kimono Design at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.  We have used naturally dyed fibers in some hats and look forward to learning more about the history and processes used.  We got a taste of natural dyeing last weekend at the studio of Dan Klima and Nancy Lepo in Omaha.

My experiences have been with using kakishibu, a rust colored natural color from fermented juice of the unripened astringent persimmons from Japan, Indigo dyes from Japan & India and cochineal, a scale insect from which the crimson-colored dye carmine is derived.  I have also experimented with yellow onion skins and walnut hulls.

Soon I hope to use more natural dyed fabrics in my hat creations. Below is a photo of some of my cochineal dyed wool. Will post more of the pics from Jay's exploration class soon.