Selfso - Sarah Yeaman

What are natural dyes?

A spark of natural creativity was born when the first piece of cloth was plunged into a dye pot simmering with flowers, bark, plants or insects. That first piece of cloth coming out of the gold, orange, blue, red, pink, green, and purple swirling dye pots forever changed the way we could express ourselves through colour. What started as a deep connection between humans and nature eventually translated into beautiful colours of every hue imaginable coming to life on natural fibres and then worn on our bodies.

Unlocking these colours in the natural world takes time, patience and perseverance, but the rewards are limitless. The artform of natural dyeing is having somewhat of a renaissance throughout the world. It starts when one passes down the knowledge to another and this continues until it begins reaching the masses again.

In a world where humanity has raced towards speed, efficiency, and progress; maybe it is time for the next leg of the journey to be intentionally slow and meaningful. You will find all these things here.

On her acreage outside of Fort Qu’appelle in southeastern Saskatchewan, Sarah has been learning about the ancient techniques of natural dyeing for the past 4 years. She highlights the prints from native trees and plants on textiles and paper. The botanical prints are wearable works of art. One of a kind.

Thank you for your support.

selfso.oils@gmail.com