About Us

As long time textile fanatics, we are of course interested in dyes. But the whole area of dyes and dyeing has become something of a minefield for anyone concerned about the fragile earth that we live on - the huge wastage of water used in dyeing, the synthetic nature of most dyes, the toxic chemicals required for use in most dyeing processes.

This has led us to become proponents of natural dyes, ones that are from plant based sources, ones that can dye without using and then having to dispose of ridiculously unpleasant and poisonous chemicals. While it can be extraordinarily difficult to achieve some colours if you restrict yourself to natural dyestuffs, personally, I can live without iridescent orange  if that sacrifice means our children can breath the air and drink the water without getting sick.

So we have become natural dyers. We use no synthetic dyes, no toxic chemicals, no plastic textiles and we are careful to waste as little water as possible. We recycle most of the water and compost the sediment from our vats.

The interest in natural dyes meant that indigo was an immediately popular dye for us and that of course led pretty quickly to shibori, the Japanese art of resist dyeing which indigo is perfect for.

We have been lucky enough to have been taught by some of the best dyers and shibori artists in the business - vastly experienced dyers from France, Japan, Java, Thailand, Bali, India and Africa, including a couple of living legends.

We started off using indigo to dye second hand clothes that we found in markets and op shops. But we found people saying that they like a piece but wanted it in size 12 or whatever, which obviously we can't do. So while we still hunt for second hand gems, we now get most of our clothes made in Indonesia and bring them back to Australia to dye.

We get a style (a long skirt or a short dress) made in 3 sizes, 20 of each size. Then we select 5 shibori techniques and make 4 versions of each one in each size. Some of the techniques are very slow and labour intensive to create, so our output is quite small. Every single piece is a one-off, no two are the same. There may be some that are quite similar but never exactly the same, as the nature of shibori means exact copies are impossible to create.

Our clothes are made by 5 ladies who were all widowed by the Bali bombing. To support their families they have banded together to form a sewing collective and they produce remarkably good work. We make sure we pay them above normal rates and we are proud to do be helping them to put their lives back together.

Lastly, we are quite happy to work by request. If you have a piece of clothing that you want dyed or if you have seen something but want it in a different colour or a different design, just ask us. We will let you know if it is possible. Just email us at info@naturaldyes.com.au