Hi friend,

On Monday I opened the doors to my new course called The Natural Dye Rainbow (you can still get 40% off using the code FOREST40 - it ends on Monday).

It got me thinking about the history of where dyes come from — something that’s been turning over in my mind while recording the videos.

For most of history, all colour came from natural sources.

Every pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple on cloth was made from plants, minerals, or insects gathered from the world around us. Dyeing was slow work, and colour was seen as valuable.

That began to change in the mid-1800s, when synthetic dyes were developed — many of them derived from coal tar, a toxic by-product of the coal industry.

The textile industry was growing fast, and there was a need for huge amounts of dyes that could be made quickly and cheaply. Natural dyes couldn’t really keep up. They often required a lot of raw materials to make a small amount of dye, and many had to be imported, which kept prices high.

Synthetic dyes solved those problems almost overnight. They were cheaper, easier to scale, and much more suited to factory production. So their use spread quickly, and natural dyeing gradually faded from everyday commercial use.

But that doesn’t mean these skills stopped being valuable.

Natural dyeing connects us to a long tradition of making, and it reminds us that colour doesn’t have to be fast or disposable. And who knows — there may well be a time in the future when we need to rely on these ways of working again.

​That’s one of the reasons I chose madder, weld and indigo as dyes for The Natural Dye Rainbow.​

They’re not delicate or fleeting colours. They’re known for being stable, long-lasting, and reliable — perfect for dyeing clothes, household textiles and quilts, where the colour really needs to hold up to washing and light.

They’re the kind of dyes you can trust. And that makes them an excellent place to begin.

So if you’d like to step into a long line of makers who’ve worked with these same dyes for centuries, I'm here to guide you in The Natural Dye Rainbow course.

A few people have asked whether you get ongoing access to the videos and lessons — and yes, you do. You’ll have lifetime access, so you can return to the course whenever you like.

​(Remember to use the code FOREST40 for 40% off before Monday midnight GMT).​

If you have any questions at all, just pop me an email and I'll be happy to help.

Rebecca. x

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P.S. You’ll have lifetime access, so there’s no rush to do everything at once. All of the videos are pre-recorded, so the course is there whenever you’re ready, and you’ll also be invited to join my student-only Facebook group for support as you work through your projects.