It may be a cold and blustery start to the summer but at least we had a sunny warm day for our Indigo! workshop last week, which is just as well because we dip the fabrics outside!
The morning was spent getting the fabrics ready.
The morning was spent getting the fabrics ready.
Stitch resists produce lovely results, but do take a long time to do; perhaps it's a winter activity whilst watching TV or chatting with friends over a cup of coffee/ glass of wine, ready for a mega dipping day in the summer! Then you could make a day of it and come with like minded friends to the next InStitches Indigo! workshop.
We also used folding, pleating, scrunching and soya wax resisits. Here is Terry modelling the Sew Me Something 'Beatrice' pinafore I made recently. I used some of our MS1 fabric, added a soya wax border and now it's ready for the indigo bath.
The indigo process is a bit smelly, so we do like a warm day so we can be outdoors. Each student carefully made up their own vat and
then it needs to be left to stand for about an hour before it's magic time...
Indigo is an oxidisation dyeing process and the colour develops as the dipped fabrics are exposed to the air. When it first comes out of the dye bath it is the most amazing green, how we wish we could capture it at that point! Then it gradually turns dark blue. To deepen the colour it's not about the length of time the fabric spends in the dye vat, but how many times it is dipped and oxidised.
Pole wrapped fabrics are a bit of a challenge, so squishing them up as tight as possible onto a short pole is the answer, or rotating the pipe.
Dipping my dress was another challenge, but as I wanted a faded look I kept it on it's hanger and gradually lowered into the vat over several minutes. I love the way the colour starts to creep up the damp fabric, don't you?
After each dip the fabrics needs to be allowed to oxidise fully and the best way to do this is pegging it out in the sun. It can then be redipped until the required depth of colour is achieved. Once the fabrics have been dipped enough times it needs to be left to dry before washing, rinsing and drying. And of course, the ironing will be a joy (unlike the rest of the ironing basket...)
If you want to see more indigo loveliness then head over to our Indigo board on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/InStitches2014/indigo/
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