Natural Dyeing with themazi Woven Fabrics
themazi is a family business from Turkey supplying natural dyes, mordants and fabrics for natural dyers. Our woven fabrics are made for natural dyeing: they are natural fibers, woven in Turkey and left undyed and untreated, with no optical brighteners, softeners or coatings, so they absorb mordants and plant dyes evenly and give clear, deep colors.
What is natural dyeing?
Natural dyeing is coloring fabric with dyes from plants, insects and minerals. These dyes have been used for thousands of years to create beautiful, lasting colors, and they come from renewable sources. Learn more in natural dyes: everything you need to know.
Our woven fabrics for natural dyeing
- Cotton: wide cotton fabric and traditional Şile cotton.
- Cotton-linen blends: cotton-linen, wide cotton-linen, linen-cotton and ribbed cotton-linen.
- Gauze and muslin: 2-layer cotton gauze and crinkle gauze.
- Textured and heavy fabrics: waffle and canvas.
- Ready-to-dye pieces: peshtemals, shawls, blankets, towels, socks and tote bags in our dye-ready blanks.
Natural dyes you can use
- Plant dyes: made from leaves, flowers, bark, roots and fruits, such as indigo, madder and weld.
- Insect dyes: such as cochineal and lac, which give strong reds, pinks and purples.
- Tannins and iron: oak galls and other tannins with iron give grays and blacks.
How to dye our fabrics naturally
- Scour the fabric with soda ash to remove any remaining starch from weaving. Plan for some shrinkage. See how to prepare fabric for natural dyeing.
- Mordant it with a tannin and alum, as cotton and linen are cellulose fibers. See how to mordant cotton and linen.
- Prepare the dye bath with dye powder or extract and warm water. The amount depends on the color you want.
- Dye the wet fabric, heating gently and then letting it cool in the bath. The longer it stays, the deeper the color.
- Rinse and wash with a pH-neutral soap and dry in the shade.
Working with wide fabric? Read how to dye 220 cm wide cotton-linen fabric.
For studios and brands
We supply our fabrics by the yard and, for studios and brands, by the roll. See our wholesale page.
Shop: undyed fabric by the yard · All undyed materials · Natural dyes and mordants