Women's Limited Artist Series: Topanga Eco-Print

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Limited edition artist made. Dyed with locally foraged plants in the Santa Monica Mountains of California by Rooted Botanics. Each tee has a unique pattern. Scroll down to learn more. 

  • Fabric: 100% organic cotton USA grown

  • Origins: Organic cotton grown in USA, spun + knit in USA, designed + sewn in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dyed with locally foraged plants in the Santa Monica Mountains of California by Rooted Botanics. Entirely USA domestic supply chain

  • Color: Eco-printed

  • Questions? We would love to help hello@harvestandmill.com

The work of Rooted Botanics

The Artist

Rooted Botanics is a synergy of ethnobotany, traditional craft and art. More than a business, their work tells a story about the history and culture of natural dyes and the plants that are all around us. Yearning to create a lifestyle that could support the artist’s long-term dream, Rooted Botanics began with an idea to bring new life to vintage clothing through plant dyes. This dream and work continue to evolve. Her passion for a craft rooted in history and culture has driven the founder, Allie, to step into her role as not only an artist, but as a teacher as well. Through continuous learning, observation, and experimentation, her art has transformed into many mediums such as eco-printing, paint making from plants, dyeing with native plants, mushroom dyeing, and more. 

The Process

All of the flowers and leaves used to eco-print these tees were ethically foraged in Allie’s local ecosystem in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. The process of creating each tee is slow and intentional. It starts with foraging for the plant material over the course of just a few weeks when the flowers are in bloom. Allie is always conscious of what plants are gathered, aware of not taking too much and collecting only from an abundant patch. Once the plant materials are ready, she returns to her studio to pre-soak the tees in a mordant bath to ensure that the flowers stick to the fabric. The foraged plants are then carefully placed onto each tee in a design. The tees are rolled up on a dowel and steamed for 40 minutes. Each tee goes through its own process, each with a unique flare.

The Plants

Garland Daisy, Chrysanthemum coronarium
This beautiful flower is not a native plant but rather an invasive local. She grows wild along the roadsides and hills of Southern California. Allie’s partner’s childhood home is next to a hillside with a bountiful patch of Garland Daisies. Due to the dry climate of Southern California, Topanga wildfire prevention guidelines required this hillside to be trimmed. Allie gratefully collected most of these hillside daisies before the trimming occurred.

 

Sagebrush, Artemisia californica
Sagebrush grows in great abundance in the Santa Monica Mountains. It smells heavenly and is a whimsical plant for eco-printing.

 

Giant Leaf Coreopsis, Leptosyne gigantea
This flower grows wild by the ocean on the cliffsides of Malibu. It has a sweet divine smell and blooms only in the months of March and April.

 

Lupine, Lupinus
The lupines were growing like weeds this year, covering the mountains in shades of purple. There is a little untouched meadow up a secluded trail in Allie’s backyard that had hundreds of lupines growing this spring. Allie also had the pleasure of growing some in her garden.

 

Rabbit Tobacco, Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium
The plant smells like maple syrup and grows lavishly amongst the oak woodlands in Topanga. It is a beautiful and hardy plant to eco-print. The flowers are a beautiful yellow color and the stems a sage green. 

Learn more about Rooted Botanics and their work here.