Indigo Pot - A trial

G and I trialed indigo dyeing last week! We are planning a group session later this summer and as this process is very different from what we are used, to we tried dyeing a few pieces of fabric first. Fun, fun, fun. I learnt so much, thanks to G who knows so much more about dyeing with natural ingredients. I now feel more confident when we host and Indigo dyeing session for others.

G had a clothesline set up under this lovely big tree in her yard. With the hot days we are having we were very thankful for some shade.

I prepared some cloth ahead of time by tying fold 10" squares and tying beads in them too.

Here I tried hand stitching in a 'star burst' pattern.

The piece is gathered up and tied off.

To save time I thought I would try machine stitching. This piece was then gathered up and the ends tied.

Cotton fabric was wrapped around an plastic cylinder and scrunched together.

Simple overhand knots were made in this length of silk fabric. Note to self: Don't tie too tightly as they are difficult to untie when wet.

The Indigo dye bath looking just as it should. I am not going to go into the process here as there is a ton of information on the subject online. Here is a link I used (Dharma Trading) which is also where I purchased my mercerized cotton and silk for dyeing. http://www.dharmatrading.com/home/pre-reduced-indigo.html?lnav=home.html

Dipping the fabric wrapped pipe. We were very careful to add the items slowly so as not to introduce air bubbles to the vat.

When the fabric is first removed it is green. As the oxygen interacts with it, the fabric turns blue.

G fabric piece around the pipe cylinder was dipped 3 times for a more intense blue. Unwrapped it is the one farthest to the right.