Colour of the Earth

Madder - an ancient colour from the root of the Rubia plant.

Here in Morocco it’s mostly used as a medicinal plant, I buy the roots freshly ground from my local spice man and the rich, earthy smell fills the kitchen as I make my first dye pot at home. I bought the biggest couscousier I could find, perfect for straining the dye through muslin after I have extracted the colour from the ground root.
For this project I dyed some natural coloured brown wool with ecru to achieve two tones of terra for a new collection of hand woven pillows, launching in April.