Botanical Dyeing

Our Botanical Dyeing Process

About our Process

© 2020, Eloïse Panetta

Mindful luxury, consciously handcrafted to order in Sydney,  Australia

 Eloïse Panetta is a luxury womenswear label motivated by feminine empowerment and nurtured by a transparent and ethical approach to fashion design. We create products that celebrate the beauty of the natural world through unique artisanal skills and processes, creating consciously handcrafted jewellery, botanically dyed silk accessories and bespoke clothing, all proudly handmade in Australia.

We use a natural dyeing process that extracts colour and texture from various Australian botanics. This process is called botanical dyeing. The plants are wrapped in the silk and steamed for a duration of time. During this time, the plant materials are embedded into the silk fibre, revealing the most exquisite colours and textures. This process is completely unpredictable, which makes every botanical silk product extremely unique, special and one of a kind.

Our process is completely chemical free and we do not use any metallic mordants. The colours you see are completely natural and derived organically from the botanicals we use. 

 

Caring for your Botanical Silk Products

Our botanical silk is a handmade fabric that has been dyed from natural Australian botanics. It is completely free from any chemicals and extremely fragile and delicate in nature. Botanical silk will naturally evolve over time and this is a normal characteristic and unique quality of the botanical dyeing process and should not be considered a fault. Love and care should be taken at all times when wearing and storing your botanical silk garment. Unless you have a stain on you silk hair accessories, laundering is not necessary.

Please follow these simple steps to ensure your botanical silk piece is well loved and cared for:

    • Avoid wearing your botanical silk in direct sunlight for long periods of time as the UV rays can cause the fabric to fade

    • Delicate hand wash in cold water only using an environmentally friendly silk wash. Eloïse Panetta proudly uses Bondi Wash Delicates Wash to launder our all of our silk products.

    • Use 10ml of silk wash in a basin with cold water and gently swish your silk product, being careful not to scrunch or cause damage to the silk.

    • Remove excess water from garment by carefully rolling your silk in a towel and then gently squeezing out remaining water

    • Dry flat in the shade and allow to dry completely.

    • Cool iron with protective cloth if necessary

    • Be careful of sharp or rigid surfaces that may catch or snag your silk piece

    • Avoid contact with beauty products such as deodorant, perfumes and makeup as this can have an unpredictable reaction with the natural dyes and change the colour of the silk. Always apply your products directly to your skin and avoid any contact with the silk. Always allow beautify products to air dry completely before wearing your botanical silk products.

© 2020, Eloïse Panetta