This is quite likely the rarest pigment on the planet. It’s the only British Indigo dye kit (we’re aware of) derived from certified organic woad plants.

💙 Get one of the few remaining dye kits here N.B. T shirt shows an example of what you can dye and is not included in the kit.

Woad has such an ancient heritage in this land, it’s thought the name Britain came from ‘Pretani’ meaning ‘painted ones’ due to our indigenous ancestors love of decorating themselves with woad for ceremonies and prior to battle.

Today, in a world of fossil fuel colour transported from the other side of the world using more fossil fuels, wearing our humble blue is a radical act of rebellion and a chance to support decolonial clothing.

It’s not easy pioneering the reintroduction of textile crops to this country though! We’re up against big industries demanding ecocidal materials made artificially cheap by fossil fuel subsidies – and climate change.

After a year of weather resulting in many farmers losing multiple food crops, it seems comparatively trivial to mention that we lost our entire 4 acres of woad, although of course, it’s doesn’t feel trivial to us.

This is the reality of farming. You win some, you lose some. Working organically means having clever strategies for weed management that were totally scuppered by wet weather and water-logged soil this year. We’ll try again in 2025 and hope the weather’s on our side.

We were also impacted by logistics and the fact that Mark and I were trying to juggle extraction and processing from opposite sides of the country, while holding down other jobs. The reality was, having such rare skill concentrated in just two people made us more vulnerable to unexpected circumstances. We still believe in the logic and necessity of what we’re doing, but will be calling on additional support next year.

All this means our remaining 2023 dye kits are all the more precious to those who get the significance of what we’re trying to achieve. This isn’t just another product, it’s a chance to support the agroecological clothing movement, and we’d certainly appreciate your support.

Regardless of this news, those that manage to buy one of these special kits will get to wear a rare and beautiful blue indeed – a colour infused with a story of resilience.

Get your kit here