Thistle Talk- and compulsive obsessions about naturally dyed fibers

This is the auxilliary online home of Thistle Handwerks(www.thistlehandwerks.com), a one woman textile business that features naturally dyed silk hand embroidery in the Glasgow Style.

9-10 years ago when I was starting Thistle Handwerks, it was frustrating-not to mention difficult- to find someone using natural dyes that could produce a consistant product on silk for my embroidery. Joyfully, I found her, and have been fortunate to embroider with her glorious colors since then. Sadly, she is moving toward retirement, and I will soon need to find a new source. I'm encouraged by the growing number of folks out there coloring fiber with natural dyes, and, as I find them, I'm adding them to my "where to find naturally dyed fibers" page. In addition to using them for embroidery, I'm also a knitter, and a new spinner- so, if I have used/experimented with any, I'll try to add photos/notes to my "fiber samples" page.

PLEASE NOTE: by no means do I intend to be critical of fiber that is dyed otherwise. There are beautiful non-naturally dyed fibers available from both large and small companies, as well as indie producers!