Safflower x Indigo Over-Dyed Sashiko Thread (Thick) 40m

A thread dyed twice — and all the better for it.

Beginning with benibana, one of Japan's most labour-intensive natural dyes, each skein is first built up through repeated cycles of safflower immersion and rinsing. Safflower yields only a fraction of pigment from each petal; the colour is earned slowly, layer by layer. Then comes a second pass — an overdye with botanical dyes that shifts the tone into something altogether quieter and harder to name. The result is a subtle lustre and a layered depth that no single dye could produce alone.

Like all benibana-dyed thread, the colour continues to develop with use — softening and settling with each stitch, growing more characterful over time. The slight natural fuzz of the cotton adds warmth, and the gentle variations from skein to skein are a mark of the process, not a flaw in it.

Well-suited to sashiko, visible mending, hand sewing, and embroidery. Particularly at home alongside indigo-dyed and unbleached cloth.

Made in Japan.