Hi friend,

On Monday I opened the doors to a new course that I’ve been dreaming up for a long time, called The Natural Dye Rainbow. Every year I write a list of goals in my diary, and this one has been on it for the past two years — so it feels really exciting that it’s finally here.

​For this week only, I'm offering 40% off The Natural Dye Rainbow. Just enter the code FOREST40 at checkout (the special price ends on Monday 9 Feb).​

This course focuses on three dyes that have been used for thousands of years — madder, weld and indigo. By layering them in different ways, you can create a whole spectrum of colours.

These dyes aren’t new discoveries or passing trends. These are tried-and-tested plants that give reliable, long-lasting colours.

❤️ Madder root (Rubia tinctorium), which makes red, is one of the oldest natural dyes. In fact, madder reds can be traced back to 3000 BC. It’s a sprawling plant that grows well in the garden. After growing it for three years, the roots can be dug up and used to make dye — or you can buy dried roots or powdered dye to use straight away.

💛 Weld (Reseda luteola), is also known as dyer’s rocket and produces tall spears of flowers which make an intense yellow dye. Weld has been used since the Roman times. It’s a biennial plant, which means it flowers in its second year — or you can buy dried flowers or powdered dye to use right now.

🩵 Indigo-bearing plants grow all over the world, and have been used to dye fibres blue for thousands of years. You can buy indigo as a powdered pigment and make a vat to colour fibres blue.

There’s something really special about working with dyes that have such a long history. You start to realise that natural dyeing isn’t just about making something pretty — it’s about stepping into a long line of makers who have worked with the same plants, the same pigments, and the same slow processes.

Inside the course, you’ll learn how to:

• prepare plant fibres properly for long-lasting colour
• dye with each plant individually
• layer them to create a full rainbow of colours
• modify your colours with rust water to darken them
• test the colourfastness of your dyes
• grow your own dye plants

But more than that, you’re learning a way of working that’s deeply connected to tradition.

Here’s my little secret about this course:

It doesn’t just teach you how to dye fabric — it changes the way you see colour.

Once you start working with these plants, you’ll realise how you can build layers of colour over almost anything. You can even overdye shop-bought clothing and create new colours. Just mordant the fabric, add it to a dye pot, and give it a new layer of colour. As long as the fibres are natural, it will take the dye beautifully.

​As a little launch treat, I'm offering 40% off The Natural Dye Rainbow for the first week. Just enter the code FOREST40 to get the saving.​

In a moment I’m actually going to photograph the lightfastness test. I left some samples of dyed fabric in the sunlight for a month, and I’ve just checked them to see if there’s been any fading — and I can’t see any difference at all. There’s been no fading!

I’ll add the results into the lesson on colourfastness inside the course. Madder, weld and indigo are such stable, long-lasting colours — perfect for quilting and dyeing clothes.

If you have any questions at all, just drop me an email. I’d love to chat and help you decide if it’s right for you.

Rebecca x

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P.S. With just these three dyes, you can build a whole world of colour. It’s remarkable how the colours layer and shift to create so many new shades.