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About

WildWestDye is here to bring naturally dyed, renewable, colour goodness into your home. WildWestDye is here to inspire you and to bring your beautiful handmade creations to life. 

Picture of Rebecca wearing a cowboy hat and yellow hand knitted top
Rebecca, a native Brit who now calls New Westminster, British Columbia home, after living eight years in colourful Sri Lanka, a beautiful Island in South Asia, is the dyer, colour-lover and driving force behind WildWestDye.

Skeins of yarn piled up
Selling yarn in CakeQuarters, aka 25g increments, is perfect for colourwork and accessories because you can buy just what you need. Less waste, less idle stash! Your yarn will be shipped to you in cakes so you can start creating as soon as it's delivered to your door.

Rebecca's cowboy boot collection
Why Natural dyes?
 
Natural dyes not only give glorious colours, but are also renewable and non-toxic (and smell really quite nice too).
Up until 1857 all textiles were dyed using natural dyes. Think of the textiles you have seen in museums, still looking beautiful today that were created before this time.

Natural dyes have beautiful depth and soul, they are all connected through nature and they look glorious together.

Naturally dyeing is a slow, careful and satisfying process. The yarn is skein-ed, washed, then a mordant is applied
- mordant is French for 'to bite' - to allow the colour from the natural dye to attach to the yarn.
The yarn is then taken through a one or two dye process. Once dyed and dried, the yarn 'rests' for two weeks and then it has its final wash, dry and the cake process is completed.
Naturally dyed mini skein experiments
 
WildWestDye uses only classical natural dye ingredients. Dyes such as Madder, Weld or Cochineal have been used for hundreds of years. Combining these traditional dyes with modern layered dyeing techniques brings subtle and stunning colour variation, depth and warmth into the yarn.
Undyed yarn, skeing and caked dyed yarn

Are they wash and light-fast?
Traditional techniques are used to ensure the yarns are as light and wash fast as possible - should you leave your cake or finished item in direct sunlight? No, I totally don't recommend that, and I wouldn't for any hand dyed yarn, regardless of dye materials used. 
I do recommend the pieces are washed in a neutral ph soap. You can use Eucalan, or even a commercial brand like Woolite, which is what I personally use to wash my hand knits. Any soap with a neutral ph can be used.
Natural Dyes will fade over time, but you will find the fades to be beautiful.
Natural Dyes will fade over time, but you will find the fades to be beautiful.
Collection of yarn colours

See the collection here