Glossary

  • Craft

    Block Printed

    Craft

    There are many types of block printing, often characterised by the area and heritage of the craftsperson.

    Some block printing is the kind you might first imagine - a block... Read More

  • Craft

    Hand Crochet

    Craft

    Crochet in many ways has very simple requirements - just yarn and a hook. Because of this, it is a skill easily picked up but can take hours of dedication... Read More

  • Craft

    Hand Embroidered

    Craft

    Hand embroidery is one of our all time favourite design details because it's always beautiful and interesting at every skill level. In fact, we are more interested and inspired by... Read More

  • Craft

    Hand Knit

    Craft

    Knitting may seem quaint now, but for much of human history it has been a necessity and powerful piece of ancient technology.

    Requiring only needles, yarn and time, a skilled... Read More

  • Craft

    Hand Woven

    Craft

    We use a lot of hand woven fabrics - always woven specially for us by lovely people who choose weaving as a vocation.

    There are many types of handloom - some... Read More

  • Dye

    Sangapoo Dyed

    Dye

    Sangapoo is a beautiful little flower with a history of use in food, medicine, and, much more recently, textiles. 

    We came across it quite a few times as a food colouring before... Read More

  • Dye

    Kaduka Dyed

    Dye

    The plant grows wild across India but is found in abundance at the foothills of the Himalayas.

    The myrobalan plant is like the swiss army knife of natural dyes.... Read More

  • Dye

    Karuvelam Pattai Dyed

    Dye

    The Babul tree, which you may have seen extracts of in food and medicine as ‘gum arabic’, has been the subject of fascination to civilisation for some time. We have... Read More

  • Dye

    Natural Indigo Dyed

    Dye

    Indigo is one of the world’s oldest dyes, with evidence of its use stretching back at least 6,000 years ago in South America and through the ages in Mesopotamia, Ancient... Read More

  • Dye

    Padhimugam Dyed

    Dye

    Also known as Indian Redwood, this plant is an absolute powerhouse of colour and produces an almost chemical-leak level of bright pinky-violet that we love.

    The plant itself is... Read More

  • Dye

    Palapattai Dyed

    Dye

    Jackfruit as a dye is a real case of ancient technology research. Although the fruit is still widely eaten - its use as a dye had all but disappeared until... Read More

  • Dye

    Pomegranate Dyed

    Dye

    People have worked with pomegranate as a dye for thousands of years, using the fruit to create ceremonial and celebratory fabrics from ancient Mesopotamia to Mughal India. The fruit... Read More

  • Dye

    Vembadam Dyed

    Dye

    Finding this dye plant was something of a reminder of nature's sense of humour. We haven't been able to make purple since the start of Story in 2013 because the... Read More

  • Dye

    Sevilokodi Dyed

    Dye

    Rubia Cordifolia is a flowering plant in the same family as coffee. The source of the colour is a compound called alizarin, and the plant has been cultivated for dye... Read More

  • Dye

    Iron Dyed

    Dye

    Iron is a very special 'dye' which isn't a dye at all, so we weren't sure for a long time if we should give it a space in... Read More
  • Material

    Patchwork

    Material

    Our Patchwork is composed of offcuts and scraps from production - each piece carefully cut and sewn together to make the most of our precious fabric. Read More
  • Material

    Recycled Cotton

    Material

    Our Recycled Cotton is custom-made for us using cotton waste from production. It's really unusual to have 100% recycled cotton, especially in jersey, because it's challenging to turn waste into... Read More
  • Material

    Organic Cotton

    Material

    Organic Cotton is harvested from plants grown and farmed according to a set of rules and standards set by a governing body. In broad strokes, this is a more sustainable... Read More
  • Material

    Cotton

    Material

    Not all cotton we use can be labelled 'Organic' as its not always possible for farmers to get the (expensive and sometimes corrupt) certification. In the modern world... Read More
  • Material

    Linen

    Material

    Linen is a fibre made from flax. Unlike Cotton, it's harvested from the stem of the plant and loved by many cultures for its ability to keep the... Read More
  • Material

    Cotton-Linen

    Material

    Our Cotton Linen mix is an old friend of Story mfg. Its 45% Linen, 55% cotton, giving the dry handfeel of linen with all the benefits of cotton. Read More