Analog Nature
Eucalyptus dyed creator belt
From the giant eucalyptus trees of Ubaté to a hand-stitched finish in Zipaquirá, this is the story of a design that took a year to bloom. In a world that constantly tells us to scale up and speed up, creators Brooke Stewart and María José Gómez chose to slow down. Dive into this beautiful process essay to explore the making of their small-batch creator belts—dyed entirely with local eucalyptus and stamped with coca leaf pigment—and find out how everyday objects can become anchors for mindfulness and connection.
A process essay
María and I created this small batch of creator belts after my time at Casa Raíz, to honor a creative spark born from making together in nature. They are simple, naturally dyed eucalyptus patchwork belts made to move between the outdoors and the studio, with deep pockets for the things you want to hold space for.
We both have small businesses rooted in personal stories and inspired by the natural world. This project grew from a desire to ritualize our creative processes, make more space for the stories we want to share, and honor the creativity and connection that emerge when we root into nature.
My brand, Analog Nature, is a cyclical wellness and creative studio creating small-batch botanical goods that help people root into natural rhythms. I started Analog Nature after I experienced profound healing from topical botanical blends. It shifted my relationship to my menstrual cycle and eased my systemic cramps. Learning to work with nature as an ally helped me remember my own body as nature. It also helped me see people and community as part of nature. Since then, working with plants has become intertwined with both my well-being and my creative practice.
Similarly, María’s brand, Cúrcuma, was born from curiosity and a devotion to color, fiber, and the land that shapes her work. Both of our backgrounds are in graphic design, and we share a similar way of viewing our brands and creations. They feel like art and like an ongoing thesis project approached from an anthropological perspective, one that keeps unfolding as we do.
I have always been very inspired by María, and by her dedication to craft and creativity. I first met María years ago in Antigua, Guatemala, when I took her natural dye class. We stayed in touch and began collaborating on small-batch seasonal achiote dyed heating pads to pair with my botanical oils.
This design had been germinating in my mind for about a year. I wanted a naturally dyed patchwork belt I could use for my creative projects and in my small garden. I wanted it to feel soft, not overly industrial, but still functional and grounded. Something simple, intentional, and timeless.
María and I were planning a workshop we were co-hosting at her residency in Ubaté, Colombia, over a video call when I brought up the idea. I asked if she would want to explore creating the belts together while I was there. She was immediately excited, which made me even more excited.
When I arrived at her residency and farm in the fall, we started sketching and prototyping the design together. We wrapped ourselves in soft but sturdy cotton fabric sourced locally in Colombia and dreamed up the details. We talked about our creative processes and how we would use the belts in our botanical practices.
Casa Raíz, the residency María and her mom, Margarita, have created and continue to create, is one of the most special places I have ever been. You can feel the care and love in it. Being there reminded me of the abundance nature has to offer when you let it, and the joy and ease that can come from moving at a rhythm shaped by your surroundings and the land itself. Creativity and well-being can feel effortless when you feel supported by nature and community, and when you let that be enough. The farm creates space for deep presence and purpose. You can truly tune into inspiration rooted in the living world, and the creative abundance that lives there. We wanted this experience, inspired by this time and place, to live in the belts.
After the initial rough sketches and fiber choices were complete, color was the next consideration. While staying on the farm and learning from María, I kept thinking about something she said. “Natural dyes speak of the place where they grow, with each color telling the story of its ecosystem, the land, and the hands that cultivated it.”
Eucalyptus was everywhere on the farm. Huge trees that held the air in a steady, almost trance-like rhythm. Their color shifted from green to blue to gray depending on the light. They already felt like part of the collaboration, so it felt natural to let them become part of the palette.
María showed me her swatch studies and explained that eucalyptus can be hard on the soil in the region because it is not native and it dries the land out. Removing some can help preserve balance. I knew eucalyptus through my botanical oil blend experiments as a plant that supports breath and clearing. From an ayurvastra perspective, we loved the idea of infusing that into the belts. A tool that creates a little more room for presence, and for connection with what is in front of you. We made a dye bath to test the tones, and we loved what came through.
The fabric is cut and naturally dyed in María’s workshop in Ubaté, a town about two hours from Bogotá. From there, it is sent to Esperanza, the seamstress María works with, to be sewn and shaped by hand into the final belt. Esperanza’s workshop is in Zipaquirá, about 45 minutes from Ubaté. Esperanza was excited when we brought the fabric and initial design sketches, and we were all curious to see how the pockets would work in real life. We placed our tools, pencils, yarn, flowers, oils, and scissors into the hand-drawn shapes, checking the size by feel. Esperanza created the first prototype so we could see the belt’s shape and feel.
At the end of the two weeks, it was time for me to go home. I left feeling full and expanded from my time at Casa Raíz and from the energy of co-creating in nature together. We wanted to keep the project going, and to share it with other creators who move between making and nature. So I decided to order a small, seasonal batch.
Before I left, I gifted María and Esperanza an oil blend so we could all use aromatherapy to find calm and ease throughout the process. Sharing the same scent also felt like a way to stay connected while working far apart.
As owners of small businesses that come from personal places, we often feel the pressure to scale. At the same time, we want to create for connection, not just production. The world is often trying to speed us up. But just like our menstrual cycles, there are ebbs and flows to every life-producing cycle, whether it is a creative project or life itself. The phases that require slowing down are the ones that make room for depth and connection.
I think the value of an object comes from the hands that make it. From the story behind it. From the care that goes into it. That is when something becomes more than functional, when it carries the life around it.
Over the past seven months, María and I returned to our virtual rhythm for this belt project. We met to discuss fiber options, eucalyptus color studies, and pocket sizing, and we checked in on our personal creative projects and lives. At one point, we realized we were on the same menstrual cycle. Bleeding with the full moon and ovulating with the new moon, it felt like our bodies were in rhythm with each other, nature, and the project.
María would send material and dye samples, and I would update the design based on functionality and versatility for both creator tools and gardening tools. We ended up loving both the blue and green tones María was able to create with eucalyptus and alum, so we decided to do a small batch run of 50 total for 2026. 25 blue for spring and summer, and 25 green for autumn and winter.
Most of the final touches were done March through May this year. María is truly a natural dye color expert, and each pocket is unique and stunning. Esperanza is an incredible seamstress who sewed everything by hand with so much care.
It was also important to us that the belt remained close to nature and used only natural pigment. We worked with María’s friends, whose screen printing studio is based in Bogotá, to produce a label made purely with coca leaf pigment. Each belt is truly handcrafted with nature, and one of a kind.
I believe the purpose of good design, at its core, is to create something rooted in well-being. Something that nurtures and empowers our humanness, and our natural desire to create and connect.
How beautiful it is that I can wear my belt with my tools and know that María and Esperanza are also wearing their belts, working on our individual creations rooted in nature in different countries, on different land. There is a simple yet powerful unification and harmony in thoughtfully designed, handcrafted, small-batch objects that comes from creating and learning from one another.
The belts are for people like us. People looking to slow down and find rhythm in the nature of creation. People who want to honor the process, and the joy that comes from collaborating with nature and each other. Part of the beauty of the belts is the stories and creations they hold. Be it in the garden, the studio, the kitchen, the recording studio, the color lab, or any creative space where someone is looking to bring the rhythm of nature into their practice.
Twenty of these creator belts will be available for purchase, shipping out of Portland, Oregon, and five will be gifted to creators whose practices are rooted in nature, and whose stories we want to learn from and share. We hope our intention is felt. We hope these belts inspire more creations, connections, and stories rooted in nature, just like they did for us.
Text - Brooke Stewart
Pictures - Brooke Stewart, María José Gómez, Andrew Durano
Small batch of 20 Belts are available for purchase on analognature.com
Brooke / Analog Nature - @analognature_
www.analog-nature.com
Maria / Curcuma - @bycurcuma_ & @casaraiz.taller