seawater pallet

Natural dye results from a wonderful day spent out at
Nicasio Native Grass Ranch - part of the Marin Carbon Project.
Thank you Peggy & John!

distaff, oakgall, indigo, madder root, toyon cooked in coper vat, 

coyote brush w/ oakgall ink, coffee berry - all cooked in seawater

planting indigo

polygonum tinctorium : japanese indigo plant starts, 2010

Last year was the first time I  planted indigo. It was a joint effort bringing several makers and producers together to begin the process of growing, harvesting and processing natural indigo in our area as part of the Fibershed project - you can read more about the planting day here. It was a rainy day and a wonderful way to mark our collective accomplishment so far and ceremonially begin the next phase of our endeavors ahead. A year later, there is a small patch growing in our urban back yard with seed from these plants. We’ve been harvesting the leaves all summer, saving them for the fermentation process that goes into making indigo dye. . .

Reweaving our Community Cloth

The Peccadillo Collection natural dye fiber jewelry debuted at the Fibershed Community Cloth Fundraiser, May 1st. A benefit dinner celebrating our local community of fiber producers and artisans, and a fundraiser to build solar-powered farm-based mill in Northern California. What an incredible evening! Be sure to check out the Fibersehd recap of the event.

People have become more aware of where their food comes from, but are still quite disconnected from the source of their clothing. Our skin is the largest organ in the body, yet there is little discussion about where or how our clothes are grow or the chemicals used in the process. The clothing industry today is one of the largest sources of pollution on the planet, but we can change this as we shift more toward organic and regionally grown fibers and natural dyes. I am proud to be part of a community working together to make this shift a reality.

••••

As part of the fashion show featuring locally grown fibers and natural dyes, despite my fears of being center focus, I was convinced to walked the hay bale runway wearing some of my design contributions. Image above features the Lion's Tail Necklace shown in black olive, turmeric, madder root and oak gall combination. Scrap earrings highlighted turmeric and oak gall over color-grown cotton. Over-the-shoulder dress featured oak galls over color-grown french jersey to evoking a smoldering, mysterious charcoal. 

(A big thanks to Paige for such an intriguing image.)

what is a PECCADILLO?

[noun. PEK-uh-DIL-oh]

A peccadillo is a small sin, minor fault, imperfection or flaw that is easily forgiven.

With its root in Latin, the word peccare means to make a mistake, blunder or sin, and later the Spanish pecado also carried the full force of a major transgression while a pecadillo, a small sin, was something that could be forgiven or over easily looked. 

In the 1500s, that word entered the English language with a sense of youthful foolishness and was viewed as a forgivable.