Textile Processing
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The Dyehouse is on the move
Firstly I would like to wish all my readers, followers, customers and friends a Happy New Year – may it bring peace and happiness and what you desire. “The time has come”, the Walrus said or actually I am saying – it’s a New Year better continue with the changes. You probably remember I had a pacemaker fitted in 2019, I was warned then not to lift anything really heavy – it could cause serious damage to my heart if the leads get pulled out – so the decision has been made not to dye cloth or large hanks of wool any longer. They are just too heavy! Combine this…
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Francesco, Niccolo and Agnolo
The building may look a little in need of some repair, but you can see it has had status! I adore this building in the city of Prato, Italy. It was built back in the 14th Century by a gentleman called Francesco di Marco Datini. All it’s history is still within the building – the open doorway takes you inside the Palace … The artwork on the walls is fabulous – imagine what it must have looked like back in the late 1300’s when all was beautiful and new. The display boards at the side tell you about the man who had the palace built and his work. So, why…
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Dreams and reality?
I have some fabulous news to tell you! From Monday 1st November I will be a full time student again, studying at the University of Leeds. I have dreamed of researching the chemistry of dyeing and in particular the relationship between mordant and dye for more years than I care to mention (and probably bored you at events if you’ve given me an opening!). Science changed so much with the development of synthetic dyes, but unfortunately stopped for natural dyes in the early 1900’s. Now thankfully that is going to change! My studies are postgraduate research into mordants – the boring part of the process for most people, no colour…
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Turkey Red (Part 1)
The term Turkey Red can be quite confusing – it is often used to describe a colour (particularly in modern parlance) – but it is actually an historical method for producing a very fast red colour on cotton cloth using the dyestuff madder. As a collector of historical dye books and Journals it always thrills me to find one I’ve been particularly looking for. At the Antique Textile Fair in Manchester in the early noughties I found one of particular importance – The Art of Dyeing Wool, Silk and Cotton by Hellot, Macquer and M le Pileur d’Apligny. It is said to contain the first (European) written record of how…
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Flanders Flax
One of the things I love about Hautes de France is the fact that flax is still a major crop. It has been grown here for over a thousand years and although very mechanised these days it is still in principle the same process. In the spring we see the beautiful fields of blue flowers looking like a haze across the horizon, I don’t have to walk very far to see vast swathes across the plateau. Stunning! When we get to July the flax is pulled – it must be by machine, but this is the one process I have yet to see in action. Don’t even know what the…
