Dyeing House Gallery is proving to us, time and again, that balancing sustainability and style in yarn production can be done. It’s not just their close to 60 years worth of experience in the textile dyeing industry, but the passion and love they have in creating fibers and yarns dyed using safe dyes and making them easily available to both big industrial companies and the individual crafter.

As our go-to fiber shop for high quality yarns, we had to include some of Dyeing House Gallery’s products in our latest KOEL Issue 8. Their Piuma yarns caught our eyes immediately, made using extra fine merino wool tops and suitable for knitting, crocheting and felting. So soft and light, we can see why this is one of their bestselling (and their personal favorite) yarn to date! We also featured their Silk Chiffon 6 ribbons in our weaves, the perfect embellishment to add a touch of elegance and uniqueness to any artwork. They come in an array of colors, making them a romantic decoration for projects and special events.

We had a nice chat with the folks from Dyeing House Gallery on what sparked the creation of the brand, their upcoming collections and the rich textile and yarn scene in Prato. Andiamo!

Tell us more about DHG Shop and the products you carry.
DyeingHouseGallery was born in 2007 as a spin-off of Gruppo Colle which is probably the biggest textile dyeing house in Europe. Our main customers as a dyeing house are yarns, fabrics and fashion companies for which we dye their own materials (both fibers and yarns) on demand.

This has been our business since 1952 but in 2007 we have decided to offer our experience also to all the small artisans, fiber artists, designer and hobbists out there. Our thought was: why should people settle for poor quality materials only because they cannot afford to buy or dye big quantities?

We started with fibers and now we have also fabrics and yarns too. Our goal is to bring people a nice range of top quality products mainly sourced locally.

Art and color – what is the special relationship between these two that sparked the birth of DHG?
Art and colors go always hand in hand. It is natural. That is why we firmly believe that fiber artists and artisans deserve the best colors we can offer them.  When we say “best” we means not only nice colours but also safe colors dyed using safe dyes, with a longlasting performance and produced in a sustainable way. If an artist is in fact very talented but works with poor materials the result won’t be bright! Therefore we have decided to put our 6 decades experience at the service of artists and designers.

We love your Piuma yarn collection!
Since the beginning our bestseller has been our extrafine merino wool tops. It is perfect for felting, spinning and giant knitting. Many love playing with these materials and all its different colors.

The DHG’s team top 3 favourites?
16 microns and extra fine merino wool tops – Maori wool – Piuma yarn

Share with us some items in your new collection.
Actually we do not have seasonal collections but we keep adding new products constantly. This year for example we introduced a new service called DHG Boutique Dyeinghouse. Our customers are now able to create and order their own fibers blends and custom colors through our website with a minimum of 3 kg/color. This way we offer dream products and colors for every single artist.

Your chiffon ribbons collection are a dream to work with. What projects are they best used for?
Well you can use them for a lot of different techniques. We mainly sell them as a sort of fabric yarns you can knit/crochet with but also use them for DIY decoration for your wedding and other celebrations.

What’s the yarn scene like in Prato?
Since the eighth century Prato has been focused on textile production and, despite a terrible crisis we have faced in the past few years, we still have a giant district with thousands of companies producing yarns and fabrics. Here you can find anything you want. Absolutely anything. That is why we would love to add more and more yarns to our collection. It would be great to be able to offer all the treasure we can find here.

What can we look forward to in the next 2 years?
Dyeing House Gallery is building a great network of partners. So we hope in 2 years our customers will be able to buy more and more locally. We believe that buying local is the most sustainable way. It also helps small shops to survive and to keep textile alive.

We wish to take our customers behind the scenes of our production process. That is why we will release a new version of our blog and a new section about production and sustainability. It is important to us that customers are informed. Buying from DHG means a lot more than simply buying dyed fibers/yarns.

Thoughts on current yarn trends?
We are moving towards a more conscious and sustainable production. Yarns are gradually balancing sustainability and style and that’s amazing. It also highlights the tradition of our region where recycled textiles have been produced since the beginning of 20th century.

Photo Credits: KOEL Magazine & Dyeing House Gallery
Weave by Hili Studio

Inspired by all these wonderful materials? Let’s start creating with a yarn pattern of your choice.