Go Bees!

Yesterday we went to the community farm with Sarah, one of my boss's, who is also a bee keeper. We got to see her tend to her bees, and she also brought back some of the combs for us to harvest honey! It was so much fun.. we ate tons of raw honey right off the comb as we were scraping it into jars. I was trying to tell my roommates last night, as we were eating raw honey, green apples and cheese and drinking wine (how classy! haha!), that I'm just so excited about all that I'm doing this summer mostly because I feel so connected to the things that I'm eating, and the things that I'm doing. Like, I actually saw the bees that produced the honey that we ate.. or I actually am growing the flowers and plants that we will harvest and then dye with. A guy that is asociated with the farm that I work at brought a baked chicken to the potluck last week that he raised, slaughtered, and then baked himself... its so much more connected and invested than buying an already baked chicken from Kroger (not that thats a bad thing). I'm just loving this!!

Artisan Natural Dyeworks

Here is the link to the Artisan Natural Dye works website. The company that I'm interning at: previously known as Ask Apparel is shifting into this new company who dyes fabric for other companies like Prophetik and Alabama Chanin. Here are some more photos of what we have been doing!

p.s I made this

check out this: and other great projects at p.s. I made this!

More from Nashville!

Hey friends! Here are some pictures from the shop. I have examples of our dying with natural dyes: shown here is cochineal and madder and indigo. Our hands/fingernails turn blue every time we dye with the indigo.. so thats funny. We've learned to screen print and paint on fabric using natural dyes.

Recycled shopping bags repurposed!

Here is a easy project that I've been working on! I wanted to share:

Envelopes made from recycled paper grocery bags!



Here are the materials you need:
-A grocery bag
-An envelope
-Scissors
-Some type of glue/tape
-ruler/straight edge
-pencil

First you take apart the existing envelope for a model for what you will cut out of the paper bag. Unfold the envelope, unfold the paper bag, and outline the shape and then cut out the envelope. Fold in the same places that the existing envelope is folded. Its really easy! I usually use glue dots to attach the flaps to make the pocket, but you can use anything you want, double sided tape would work well.

To make a place for the address I used a piece of the paper bag and used the other side that didn't have printing on it. I used a flower stamp that I have to outline the label and then pasted it onto the front of the envelope.This is a really easy project, and a good way to use old cool looking paper grocery bags!

Finally Pictures!

So I finally got a memory card reader so I can post pictures from my adventure in Nashville so far! The first couple of pictures are from the farm. We are working at a community farm called Bells Bend. It is so much fun! The last picture is of me and my new roomie, Katie, love her! Planting has been so much fun! I will def. post more later!

Indigo Summer

On the schedule for today was:
1) To plant the dye plants in the plot at the farm
2) To finish our dye work for Alabama Chanin.

So early this morning I set out for the farm... and then about 45 min later I got there (after much ado and not knowing which direction I was going...figures). It was a beautiful morning and we got a lot done: dug out places for the seeds to be scattered, and planted marigold, hopi-dye sunflowers, and indigo. It was an incredible thing to be a part of the very beginnings of planting. The whole time I was thinking about the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, and also the idea of a harvest and how the process of planting, growing, and harvesting the seed is exactly that: a process. Its a beautiful analogy of how we grow spiritually with the Lord... Jesus uses so many stories and comparisons with agriculture that its incredible to be able to see it first hand.

The second part of the day was devoted to dying yardage for Alabama Chanin with Indigo. She has a beautiful line of clothing for the summer that is inspired by the color of Indigo. I thought I would give a brief overview of Indigo for those of you who don't know... Its actually been incredible seeing the process and getting a better understanding of how it works.

Historically Indigo is a very powerful and often times considered a "magical" substance. It is different from normal natural dyes in that it Indigo is a dye different than any other. It does not require any mordant. Rather it is dyed through a living fermentation process. The process "reduces" the Indigo, changing it from blue to a greenish color. In this state, it dissolves in an alkaline solution. The fiber is put directly into the dye.. usually kept in what is called a vat. It is sensitive to air so when you lower the fabric in it must be very gentle, introducing as little air as possible. When brought out to the air, it is a bright green and slowly the air changes it to the beautiful deep and rich blue of Indigo (this is the magical part).

I have become very attached to our vats of indigo.. especially our very large one that sits outside. There are probably a lot of reasons for it: One being that every day I come home with Indigo completely covering my hands, arms, and feet. Also because the vats survive by a fermentation process you can keep in going for however long you are willing to "feed" it and help it along with adding various materials like Barley Wheat (that kind of feeds the bacteria that live in the vat and keep up the fermentation, Soda Ash, or more Indigo Powder (to strengthen or weaken the color). The vats periodically need to rest, or need to be fed, or are exhausted from the amount of Indigo it has been releasing to dye fabric... It's just like a person! (we are in the process of naming ours, because they are personified so much). I wish I had pictures now.. but they will have to come later.. I need to buy a camera chord.

I've gotta run! I'm going to a benefit concert with my roomie for Logos Bookstore that got a lot of damage during the flood.

Today I worked on a farm...

I haven't posted in a while, but I'm blogging from Nashville, Tennessee! I have been here for a couple of days and everything is finally settling down for me to be able to be in contact with the world! I'm here interning for the summer with the company Ask Apparel which is a small apparel company that creates beautifully hand dyed and crafted products. They are in a transitional stage right now to become more of a dye house that dyes yardage for use of other designers. I have learned so much already about natural dying, the importance of sustainability, and especially recipes and materials for all of the above. So many things are interesting to me about all of these processes. Right now I'm excited about tomorrow morning, we will be meeting at the community farm called Bell's Bend to be planting dye stuffs that will be harvested in August. We are planting Indigo, Marigold... and much more that I'm not sure of, actually (oops). It really is neat being immersed in this culture of organic and all natural farming/living/eating. I've always wanted to learn more about everything.. for example: composting, gardening, diy yogurt, soy milk, etc. I'm learning tons and I cant wait to report back with more!

Another really cool thing is that I'm in Nashville! What a cool place, I really didn't prepare myself during the last couple of days of school for moving to a new place... I kind of didn't think about it at all actually until the drive up. But everything is so much fun.. everyone is "doing the music thing", or is a farmer, or is a hippie, or is a Vanderbilt student and is majoring in biochemical engineering (what the heck!?) I love this city!