Botanical Dyed Silk Ribbons & Materials | Lancaster & Cornish

#49 - Botanical dyer Sian Cornish shares her small business journey. After many years working in manufacturing and the construction industry, the recession led to her setting up Lancaster & Cornish, creating beautiful hand-dyed silk products. After studying a Geology degree at Oxford University, she went on to study a Masters in Environmental Science in London. As part of her Masters, she wrote a dissertation on Glacial Retreat in the Himalayas. And whilst visiting India she fell in love with colour. Her first job role was in the manufacturing industry, after which she took a year out and travelled with her husband, back to India, and also to Mexico and Australia. On returning to the UK, she started working in the construction industry as an environmental consultant. This position offered her the opportunity of working freelance. So she and her family moved from London to Cornwall. When the credit crunch struck, she lost all her freelance work. And she realised that she needed to reinvent herself. After much thought, she set up Lancaster & Cornish, initially buying and selling organic fabric. Around 2013, one of her friends who is a florist asked her if she could make some ribbons for her. It was a lightbulb moment for Sian. And it was the start of her journey with natural dyes. Working from her kitchen table, she began dyeing silk and bamboo silk. She shares the natural dyeing process from the original material through to creating the dyed product, the impact of the pandemic on her company and her plans for 2022.  Plus she talks about how her dyed materials have appeared in the 2020 film Emma!Listening to this episode, you'll hear how passionate Sian is about textiles and colour.  Funnily enough, it was only after she's started her business that she discovered that her ancestors were also involved in the textile industry.  A full circle...Show notes are available on the My Small Business & Me website: https://mysmallbusinessandme.com/episode49