In a quiet industrial corner of Kojima, Japan, a pair of unconventional dyers have been forging their own unique approach over the past few decades. Working across both synthetic and natural pigments, they celebrate irregularity and spontaneity as part of the art of small scale piece dyeing, or the dyeing of fabric after its woven. Years of research and experimentation with natural dyes and vintage machines has given way to their singular approach toward color creation.

Pushing the limits of small vintage machines originally designed for garment washing, they champion the texture and character that emerges through this hybrid hand/machine dyeing approach. Smaller machines means fabric lengths must be pulled out quite often to be untwisted and set back into the machine. This approach is labor intensive as hands make up for what the machine alone cannot achieve.

For more thoughts, photos, and a short video on their process, visit the notes post on hybrid hand dyeing.