Kakishibu is a dye that earns its keep.

Made from fermented unripe persimmons and dense with natural tannins, it has been used across Japan for centuries — on cloth, timber, tableware, and architectural surfaces — as much for its practical qualities as its colour. Water-resistant, antibacterial, insect-repelling: properties the material carries into whatever it touches.

On thread, the transformation is slow and deliberate. As the tannins oxidise they form a fine film across the fibre, gradually deepening in tone and shifting in texture with use and age. The thread you end a project with will be a little different from the one you began with — warmer, richer, more itself.

Suited to sashiko, visible mending, hand sewing, and embroidery. Particularly at home with indigo-dyed and unbleached cloth.

Made in Japan.