Naturally green cotton is a type of naturally colored cotton whose fibres grow with their own green tone, without being dyed.
The cotton harvested at Hitotsuya（ひとつ屋） has a deep green color at first. As time passes, it gradually changes toward yellow-green or grey. The fibres feel remarkably soft and have a gentle character quite different from the other cotton varieties we have grown.
Naturally colored cotton has the attraction of carrying its own color, although its fibres tend to be shorter than those of standard white cotton. This means that it needs a spinning method suited to its particular character. We believe it may work especially well with a traditional Japanese gara-bo spinning machine, which slowly spins cotton while preserving the natural texture of the fibre.
After trial cultivation at the Hitotsuya textile farm, we became fascinated by the exceptional feel of this cotton. We are now working to increase the harvest and develop it into a new material for original Hitotsuya cotton products.
▼ A field used to increase our supply of naturally green cotton seed
▼ A naturally green cotton flower
▼ A developing cotton boll
▼ Harvested naturally green cotton
▼ Seeds with green fibres still attached
Once we can secure a larger and more stable harvest, we hope to offer raw cotton and seed, spin the cotton into yarn on our gara-bo machine, produce naturally dyed yarn, and eventually weave the yarn into cloth on our power loom.
Growing cotton in the field, spinning the fibre into yarn, dyeing it, and finally weaving it into cloth――the work we have quietly built up over the past several years is finally beginning to connect as one continuous path.
Please look forward to seeing where Hitotsuya takes this project next!