At the heart of La petite Leonne's vegetable dye workshop, you'll discover the power of colors extracted from everyday products such as onion peels, avocados and many others.
This 3-hour course will plunge you into the captivating world of vegetable dyeing with food pigments. You'll learn the basics of this technique, from choosing materials to applying them to textiles, including the subtleties of color adjustment. This is a unique opportunity to create your own personal color palette from natural ingredients, while contributing to a sustainable artistic practice.
Limited places in a truly magical place
Places are limited, as this course is offered as part of the Coop MADAAM's socio-financing campaign. The Coop MADAAM is a magical place of creation and sharing dedicated to Montreal artists and artisans.
To take part in this inspiring workshop in spring 2024, all you have to do is register by choosing the workshop from the list of counterparties.
]]>Small businesses like ours have faced challenges in 2022, including production minimums that have tripled in India, making it difficult to fulfill orders.
But we have some great news to share! We were able to secure a batch of our luxurious 4-ply cotton muslin, which has allowed us to restart production. However, we must inform you that due to the rising cost of cotton, we have had to increase our prices.
To thank you for your patience and support, we're offering a pre-sale before the price increase. This is your chance to purchase our popular 4-ply pillowcases before they sell out. You can buy them luxurious 4-layer pillowcase.
Delivery is scheduled for mid-April, and we'll keep you updated every step of the way.Don't wait! Place your order now and be one of the first to receive our 4-ply pillowcases.
Thank you for supporting our small business, and together, let's continue making a positive impact.
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This year, I wanted to choose a word to determine 2022 for La petite Leonne. It came to me quite naturally that Kindness was the one: it's a key value of the company, which has been on all my packaging since day one.
For me, Kindness is the ability to be generous, kind and caring towards people and the planet.
I am committed to considering the impact of each action taken by the company: human, ecological and personal impact as well, because kindness must be applied first and foremost to ourselves in order to benefit others.
I am also committed to developing products that are good for you, your little ones and your homes. It seems to me that we need more than ever to have a reassuring cocoon to take refuge in these troubled times.
Thank you for your support in 2021. There have been quite a few stock-outs, sourcing has been complicated and my dyeing hours have been limited to evenings and weekends, but you have still been there, recommending my products and giving them to your loved ones.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you!
See you soon!
Marie
]]>This Black Friday week, slow is not the easiest feeling to have as I can feel the commercial pressure at a maximum. It's easy to get caught up in this avalanche of commercial messages and to buy things I don't need. I'm trying to stay aligned with my environmental values, but it's not always easy to limit my consumption, even more so when it comes to making gifts.
Over time, I've developed a few tings for a softer Holiday Season, to limit the frustration of giving and receiving.
First, create wish lists for yourself and your loved ones. This is the key to not ending up receiving or giving something you don't really need or like (even if it's given with all the good intentions in the world!). I always feels it frustrating to bring home something that will not be useful to me, and I don't want to do that to someone else. During the year, when I see something I would like (but that is not essential right away), I put it in a list on my phone. It's easy to share it with those who ask me for my Birthday or for Christmas. I also have a list for my husband and my daughters, so I don't run out of ideas when it comes to spoiling them.
Then, I recommend organizing a gift exchange to limit the number of gifts we give and receive. In my family, for the past few years, we've had a raffle that determines who each person gives a gift to. And we stick to that. This allows us to spend more time finding the perfect gift for our assigned person, rather than buying for the sake of buying because we have no inspiration and a limited budget.
Limiting waste is essential for me to feel good. Single-use gift wrap is rarely recyclable, so it's crazy to think that we're producing paper that is only meant to be torn up and thrown in the trash. Instead, choose to wrap your gifts in something that can be reused: a cotton bag, for example, or a tea towel, a scarf, any fabric. A two-in-one gift with no waste! Take a look on Pinterest, it's full of ideas on how to wrap your gifts without generating waste!
Finally, the key to being aligned with your values during this time is to give gifts that make you feel good. This is the advantage of limiting gift exchange, the budget available per gift is more important. This makes it easier to buy better, locally made things that respect the planet. I love being able to tell the story behind the products I buy, and I know that many small businesses rely on the Holiday Season to live all year long. I'm proud to be able to support local, and I thank everyone who supports us by donating products from our collection this holiday season. It means a lot to us!
I wish you a beautiful Holiday Season!
Voici comment cet engagement se reflète dans ce que nous faisons au quotidien:
We choose our fibers carefully.
We are committed to using only natural fibers: GOTS-certified organic cotton and a blend of organic cotton and bamboo rayon for the kids' collection. Woven in double (or quadruple) gauze, these fabrics are breathable, stay very soft and are plush for an absolute comfort, even in the long term (no more itchy fabrics!).
We only use natural dyes
This is our raison d'être, our most important work, our greatest commitment: to use only plants to dye our products. Nature offers us underestimated gifts and the alchemy of natural pigments allows us to create an infinite palette, harmonious and unique to each bath.
We work with local seamstresses and in small batches
Producing in small batches allows us to limit waste and avoid inventory sales liquidation. As natural dyeing is not an exact science, we sometimes have products with small imperfections: we add them to the "almost perfect" section of our website, at a discount, so as not to waste fiber.
Our color palette is limited and gender-neutral
We have made a conscious decision to limit the number of colors we work with: again, this is to limit the quantities produced but also to have a range of products that match each other perfectly. No need to change napkins because you have a new tablecloth: each product we offer can live a long life within your walls.
We are committed to using our fabric scraps as much as possible
Nothing goes to waste: every little piece of fabric is put aside to have a second life. Discover our zero waste collection here.
We give a second life to your products thanks to a dyeing service
Have your products lost their color, have they been left in the sun for too long or have they been washed with an aggressive detergent? We give them a second life with a re-dyeing service.
Thank you for helping us to be part of the change, because every gesture counts for a sustainable and responsible consumption.
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Some people even dare to say that it would be possible to predict fashionable colors simply by looking at the color of the rivers in China, as reported in the French newspaper Les Échos, (in French). This is an ecological and human disaster, since the inhabitants of the hamlets bordering these rivers consume this polluted water. The villages are decimated by cancer of the digestive organs (source: Le Devoir, in French).
Not all countries have effective means to clean their wastewater before it returns to the environment. This explains the accumulation of chemicals in drinking water streams. Going to the point where light no longer penetrates the water, reducing the ability of marine plants to photosynthesize, causing a great decrease in oxygen in the water and killing not only marine plants but also the aquatic animals that live there.
Historical documents dating back to 3,500 years BC tell us that the use of natural dyes was a very common practice at the time. To color their textiles, they used extracts from vegetables, fruits, flowers, tree bark, insects and some fish, rather than using a highly chemical cocktail for the environment.
Here's how to reduce health and environmental risks:
- Buy naturally dyed products
It is also essential to choose your textile fibers, for your own health and that of our planet.
The pH is an indicator of the acidity of a substance on a scale of 0 to 14. Natural pigments are very often influenced by pH, which will change their colors, so we recommend using a pH neutral detergent to preserve the color of your naturally dyed textiles.
Why do you need to avoid sodium carbonate?
Most natural detergent are designed to remove stains from nature and contains sodium carbonate. Sodium carbonate will remove the dye as it was a stain, avoiding it will allow colors to last longer..
How can I remove stains on a naturally dyed product?
Immerse the textile in cold water with mild detergent. Let it soak to dissolve the stain. It is always easier to remove a stain that has just been made. Bleaching agents (such as soda ashes or sodium peroxide) should be avoided on products dyed with plants. They will make the color disappear. .
You stained your product and are not able to remove it? The best thing is to camouflage it by dyeing it again. Contact us and we will help you do so!
Here are some exemple of natural detergent that are soft for your plant-dyed products.
- Bean & Lily
See our instruction care section for more information.
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Air - The air quality in our homes is not necessarily healthy, it remains rather poor, especially in the city. It is by improving the insulation of the houses that the quality of the ambient air has decreased. That's why it's important to add greenery to your decor. For a more ecological house, while purifying its ambient air, it is enough to add a minimum of one plant per 10 meters.
Reduces stress and fatigue - Today, more than a quarter of the population experiences stress or chronic fatigue on a daily basis. A study conducted by the University of Kansas in a hospital center proves that plants improve health. The healing process is faster, patients have a lower heart rate, there is less anxiety among people working in the building and there is less spread of viruses. All thanks to indoor plants!
Headaches - For those who suffer from headaches on a regular basis, a study done by Professor Tøve Fjeld in Norway shows that there is a 23% decrease in minor ailments such as headaches, dry skin and eye stinging when plants are added to the environment. It is much easier and more natural to add plants to your environment than taking headache medication.
Meditative Exercise - Taking care of your plants is a very relaxing and even meditative exercise. It is a task that allows you not only to take care of your plants, but also to take care of yourself.
Do you have plants at home?