Meet the Maker
Owner and designer, Meg Camanzo, is the creative force behind Light Rain Designs. What started out as an exclusive jewelry brand has now grown to encompass her love of vintage and natural dyeing.
With her Earth Dyed Vintage line, she is able to save pieces from the landfill and give them new life and energy through the magic of plant dyes.
Meg has always been excited about fashion and design. This interest has blossomed in the last six years with her original creative expression, silver and gold handmade jewelry. But when her son was born, she needed a medium to express her creativity that fit in better with her life as a new mom. Natural dyeing was an organic transition allowing her to be more fluid with her time.
Ultimately this form of expression fits in best with her current life. LRD has always been an evolving and living organism. It will continue to evolve and morph alongside the artist.
““It’s a little bit of science and a lot of magic and I am just so stoked to share some of this magic with you”.”
Reclaimed Vintage
*
Naturally Dyed
The Dye Stuff
Indigo
Indigo is an ancient dye dating back 6,000 years to its earliest known use. Many cultures have their own unique histories and processes with different varieties of indigo producing plants. In Japan they cultivate Persicaria Tinctoria for their indigo vats and have developed the well known dye technique called “shibori”. In India they cultivate Indigofera Tinctoria and produce much of the pigment we now buy to make our own indigo vats.
Indigo is antibacterial and healing for the skin which is one of the reasons blue-collar workers began to wear denim; their clothing was less likely to harbor bacteria. This tradition was started in Japan where the Samurais would wear indigo dyed cloth under their armor.
Madder, Rosemary, Cutch
Madder is another historical dye used to make striking reds and deep purples. It is harvested from the roots of a mature madder plant and then heated gently to extract the dye.
Rosemary is an herb for remembrance and on its own will create bright yellows. When it is paired with iron it shifts to a beautiful olive green.
Cutch is derived from the Acacia tree and its powdered extract yields tans to deep cinnamon hues. When an alkaline is added to the dye bath the color will shift to a rusty red.
The Process
Each piece is hand selected from piles of vintage or local community run thrift stores. Often they are stained and dirty and the natural dyes are able to give them a new life. Before being dyed, each piece goes through a multi-step preparation process. First the pieces are scoured which is essentially a heated bath with soda ash to remove any excess grime, wax, or oil.
Then the pieces are mordanted according to the best method for the desired results. Indigo is the only dye that does not need a mordant, but the vat has to be kept in optimal conditions for the indigo to stay reduced and thus able to bind to the fiber.
Finally the garment is placed in the desired dye bath and is “cooked” at a specific temperature to aid in the dye binding to the fiber. Sometimes a piece will undergo multiple dye baths for a desired shade. Often times pieces will also receive a post dye iron bath to shift the colors darker or to different shades.
It’s a journey that every piece of Earth Dyed Vintage goes through before it is ready for its new life. We are so grateful to walk hand in hand with these plants to bring new energy to these old and forgotten pieces.
Newsletter
Be the first to know about our new collection
launches, special offers & other updates.