BLOG POST
April 2024
Reflections on fabric dyeing for Renegade Nell, a fantasy adventure series on Disney +
Willow
![]()
Willow tree felled by the River Rae in Stirchley, Birmingham
Beneath the surface of willow bark lies pink, stringy, blushing flesh—a shade both delicate yet sore, like naked skin exposed to the raw winter air.
The River Rae courses through Birmingham as a vital vein in the heart of England. In late winter of February 2022, tree surgeons cut down willows to maintain the river bank in Stirchley, South Birmingham.
My brother Nathan, the gardening forager cycled past, finely tuned to the shifts in nature's offerings. He stopped to ask the tree surgeons if anyone would mind if we debarked the trunks that lay exposed on the banks.
![]()
![]()
Debarking willow by the River Rae
The next day we returned with our bikes, a trailer, and a debarking spud. Scoring and prying, together we peeled back the willow bark from the felled trees to uncover the colour of a willow's heart hidden within.
![]()
Renegade Nell, Disney + 2024
The laundry scene for Tottenham Village, 1705, was our first natural dye project for Renegade Nell. We chose our dye plants carefully, authentic to the time period and landscape of the story.
Alongside the laundry, our fabrics draped the village and dressed market sets, with heritage dyes adding an extra touch of authenticity.
![]()
![]()
Renegade Nell, Disney + 2024
In total, we dyed over 200 metres of wool, linen, and cotton in three weeks with foraged apple bark, willow bark leaves and stems, rosehips, smoke tree, English red cabbage, beetroots and food waste onion skins.
![]()
![]()
Dyed fabrics bundled and ready for delivery to Renegade Nell
Apple
Through conversations with the Art Department, apples emerged as an important element in the local landscape of 18th-century Tottenham.
We began to attune ourselves to the presence of Apple. Guided by the unseen, we found everything we needed was already within our reach.
Two weeks prior to commencing this project, I relocated from my flat in Kings Heath, where an apple tree had been felled in the communal garden. Its stump lay concealed amidst the ivy, while the trunks rested nearby, patiently awaiting discovery.
![]()
![]()
Debarking an old apple tree in Kings Heath, South Birmingham
Serendipity struck once more as Nathan found himself drawn to the back of a client’s garden on Hay Green Lane in Bournville. There an old, dying apple tree stood shedding its protective cloak onto the ground below.
The fleshy bark of these apple trees was then soaked in rainwater and over two weeks, brewed into a rich, viscous amber dye.
By fire and flame, embracing traditional dyeing methods, the resilience and growth of the apple were imbued into the fabric.
![]()
![]()
Apple bark after two weeks of soaking
![]()
![]()
Apple Dye in pots over fire
I view dyeing with plants as a means of infusing fibres with the wisdom, virtues, and folklore inherent in flora. I firmly believe that they possess a wealth of narratives capable of enriching the storytelling and atmospheric qualities of a scene.
![]()
![]()
In the first episode of Renegade Nell, during the laundry scene, Roxy Trotter, Nell Jackson's sister, is told that Nell has returned to the village. Roxy and her family believed Nell to be dead. Roxy is overwhelmed as Nell is somehow resurrected. Our plant-dyed fabrics surround Roxy in this moment, lit softly and ethereally, as the ways of water rinse and wash around her realisation.
![]()
Renegade Nell, Disney + 2024
Becki, artist and dye assistant, offered the words of an oracle card she pulled over the weekend to facilitate a deeper connection between our fabrics, the plant material - Willow and the emotion expressed in the scene.
‘Most people think of Willow as graceful and soft, a beautiful tree with weak wood. She’s happy to let you have your delusions. But underground, she sends her expansive roots questioning for water, the element of emotion, which feeds her extraordinary flexibility...
Pliancy allows her to have great empathy without becoming overwhelmed by the emotions of others; instead, they flow through her like water. If you find yourself armoring up to handle high emotions, call on Willow to teach you the ways of water.’
The Illustrated Herbiary, Maia Toll, Page 124
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Willow Bark Dye, photograph series by Caitlin Kiely, 2022
It Takes a Village
In bygone eras, when natural dyeing stood as the sole method of colouring, these processes were communal endeavours, shared and carried out by many hands. Industries intertwined, fostering a symbiotic relationship within the village community, which made such endeavours not only feasible but deeply ingrained in the fabric of daily life. When it comes to natural dyeing, it really does take a village, and a community's way of life being ingrained in nature's seasons.
![]()
Renegade Nell, Disney + 2024
From the initial act of sowing seeds to cultivating dye plants, from foraging for leaves, stems, roots, and bark to the subsequent stages of chipping, stripping, soaking, brewing, strewing, and straining—the journey of natural dyeing by hand is one marked by tender loving care. Even the treatment of fabric necessitates rigorous cleaning, involving deep cleansing to rid the fibres of grease and oils.
The art of natural dyeing, at its most harmonious with nature, is a resource-intensive endeavour, particularly when undertaken on a large scale. A slow and labour-intensive process that demands significant quantities of raw materials, gathered sensitively. In many respects, one finds themselves in the lap of Mother Nature, intimately connected with the rhythms and whims of the land.
![]()
![]()
By early spring 2022, like the weeping willow draped with the weight of ancient wisdom, our fabric hung across the garden like the laundry scene itself, us, the washerwomen, the wise women. Infusing cloth with the willow's symbolism of femininity and emotion, imbuing every fibre with nature's love and grace.
Guided by the moon, our fabrics created a soft, healing backdrop for a pivotal moment in Renegade Nell, where a lost sister comes home and deep suppressed emotions are stirred once again by the ways of water.
![]()
Willow Bark Extract - dye from 2022.
Two years later, the dye's natural preservation showcases its medicinal properties. Used as a traditional remedy for centuries, it contains salicin, a precursor to salicylic acid, renowned for its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial qualities.
Willow and Apple for Tottenham Village, 1705 written by Grace Emily Manning-GEM
April 2024
Willow and Apple for Tottenham Village, 1705
Reflections on fabric dyeing for Renegade Nell, a fantasy adventure series on Disney +
Willow
Willow tree felled by the River Rae in Stirchley, BirminghamBeneath the surface of willow bark lies pink, stringy, blushing flesh—a shade both delicate yet sore, like naked skin exposed to the raw winter air.
The River Rae courses through Birmingham as a vital vein in the heart of England. In late winter of February 2022, tree surgeons cut down willows to maintain the river bank in Stirchley, South Birmingham.
My brother Nathan, the gardening forager cycled past, finely tuned to the shifts in nature's offerings. He stopped to ask the tree surgeons if anyone would mind if we debarked the trunks that lay exposed on the banks.
Debarking willow by the River Rae
The next day we returned with our bikes, a trailer, and a debarking spud. Scoring and prying, together we peeled back the willow bark from the felled trees to uncover the colour of a willow's heart hidden within.
Renegade Nell, Disney + 2024The laundry scene for Tottenham Village, 1705, was our first natural dye project for Renegade Nell. We chose our dye plants carefully, authentic to the time period and landscape of the story.
Alongside the laundry, our fabrics draped the village and dressed market sets, with heritage dyes adding an extra touch of authenticity.
Renegade Nell, Disney + 2024
In total, we dyed over 200 metres of wool, linen, and cotton in three weeks with foraged apple bark, willow bark leaves and stems, rosehips, smoke tree, English red cabbage, beetroots and food waste onion skins.
Dyed fabrics bundled and ready for delivery to Renegade Nell
Apple
Through conversations with the Art Department, apples emerged as an important element in the local landscape of 18th-century Tottenham.
We began to attune ourselves to the presence of Apple. Guided by the unseen, we found everything we needed was already within our reach.
Two weeks prior to commencing this project, I relocated from my flat in Kings Heath, where an apple tree had been felled in the communal garden. Its stump lay concealed amidst the ivy, while the trunks rested nearby, patiently awaiting discovery.
Debarking an old apple tree in Kings Heath, South Birmingham
Serendipity struck once more as Nathan found himself drawn to the back of a client’s garden on Hay Green Lane in Bournville. There an old, dying apple tree stood shedding its protective cloak onto the ground below.
The fleshy bark of these apple trees was then soaked in rainwater and over two weeks, brewed into a rich, viscous amber dye.
By fire and flame, embracing traditional dyeing methods, the resilience and growth of the apple were imbued into the fabric.
Apple bark after two weeks of soaking
Apple Dye in pots over fire
In the quiet alchemy of a dyer's brew, willow weeps in a steaming bath, while apple stews an amber gold, transporting us to a time long past.
I view dyeing with plants as a means of infusing fibres with the wisdom, virtues, and folklore inherent in flora. I firmly believe that they possess a wealth of narratives capable of enriching the storytelling and atmospheric qualities of a scene.
In the first episode of Renegade Nell, during the laundry scene, Roxy Trotter, Nell Jackson's sister, is told that Nell has returned to the village. Roxy and her family believed Nell to be dead. Roxy is overwhelmed as Nell is somehow resurrected. Our plant-dyed fabrics surround Roxy in this moment, lit softly and ethereally, as the ways of water rinse and wash around her realisation.
Renegade Nell, Disney + 2024
Becki, artist and dye assistant, offered the words of an oracle card she pulled over the weekend to facilitate a deeper connection between our fabrics, the plant material - Willow and the emotion expressed in the scene.
‘Most people think of Willow as graceful and soft, a beautiful tree with weak wood. She’s happy to let you have your delusions. But underground, she sends her expansive roots questioning for water, the element of emotion, which feeds her extraordinary flexibility...
Pliancy allows her to have great empathy without becoming overwhelmed by the emotions of others; instead, they flow through her like water. If you find yourself armoring up to handle high emotions, call on Willow to teach you the ways of water.’
The Illustrated Herbiary, Maia Toll, Page 124
Willow Bark Dye, photograph series by Caitlin Kiely, 2022
It Takes a Village
In bygone eras, when natural dyeing stood as the sole method of colouring, these processes were communal endeavours, shared and carried out by many hands. Industries intertwined, fostering a symbiotic relationship within the village community, which made such endeavours not only feasible but deeply ingrained in the fabric of daily life. When it comes to natural dyeing, it really does take a village, and a community's way of life being ingrained in nature's seasons.
Renegade Nell, Disney + 2024
From the initial act of sowing seeds to cultivating dye plants, from foraging for leaves, stems, roots, and bark to the subsequent stages of chipping, stripping, soaking, brewing, strewing, and straining—the journey of natural dyeing by hand is one marked by tender loving care. Even the treatment of fabric necessitates rigorous cleaning, involving deep cleansing to rid the fibres of grease and oils.
The art of natural dyeing, at its most harmonious with nature, is a resource-intensive endeavour, particularly when undertaken on a large scale. A slow and labour-intensive process that demands significant quantities of raw materials, gathered sensitively. In many respects, one finds themselves in the lap of Mother Nature, intimately connected with the rhythms and whims of the land.
By early spring 2022, like the weeping willow draped with the weight of ancient wisdom, our fabric hung across the garden like the laundry scene itself, us, the washerwomen, the wise women. Infusing cloth with the willow's symbolism of femininity and emotion, imbuing every fibre with nature's love and grace.
Guided by the moon, our fabrics created a soft, healing backdrop for a pivotal moment in Renegade Nell, where a lost sister comes home and deep suppressed emotions are stirred once again by the ways of water.
Willow Bark Extract - dye from 2022. Two years later, the dye's natural preservation showcases its medicinal properties. Used as a traditional remedy for centuries, it contains salicin, a precursor to salicylic acid, renowned for its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial qualities.
Willow and Apple for Tottenham Village, 1705 written by Grace Emily Manning-GEM