How I fell in love with colour.
Once upon a time I was a floral designer who adored flowers and made a lot of pretty botanical bouquets for brides. One day, frustrated at the quality, sustainability and colours of ribbons available locally, I decided to make some of my own and stumbled upon the art of natural dyeing on silk. Magic happened! Discovering that such beautiful colour could come from things already in my kitchen, or from plants and soil and wood pulp, was like stumbling across a kind of alchemy.
I experimented for a long time, using my training as a painter as I learned how to mix and layer dyes rather like watercolours. One day a friend suggested that I might try selling some and before too long I was making so much ribbon that the floral design business, to my surprise and delight, became a ribbon company.
Today I continue to play and experiment with colour every chance I get; always thrilled with each new magical discovery.
I’m so very grateful that I’m able to make my living this way.
My ribbons are made by hand in small batches in my studio using good quality silk, plant fibre and only natural dyes. I dye with colour that comes from leaves, wood pulp, beans, teas and even earth. All of my sources for colours and materials are non toxic and as sustainable as possible - for instance, in the case of rarer wood I only source dye from companies that harvest twigs and branches, or collect sawdust, rather than felling entire trees.
I'm proud to run a business with deeply eco-friendly values and I find that the natural colours are far richer, more beautiful and more nuanced than conventional, artificial dyes. I recycle, compost and reuse packaging and paper as much as possible. I also buy recycled and compostible packing products when I can.
Nettle & Silk's textiles have been featured on wedding and style blogs like 100 Layer Cake, Green Wedding Shoes, Ruffled and Perfect Palette.
Each batch is a lovingly made, unique work of art.
The store motto is 'Handmade with Love' and every part of every order really is.
