Indigo - The Last Hurrah!

I really love the way this french terry tunic came out. I think I'll be wearing it this fall as the weather cools!

This raw silk jacket and skirt were dipped together in order to insure they would be coordinating. I think this outfit will go into my closet to await some appropriate occasion - maybe an upcoming gallery opening . . .

Ok, this should be the last of the indigo dyeing for me for 2009. After this last group of fabrics and garments were dipped a single time each, the vat died what seemed like a natural death. The 5 gallon bucket will be sealed and retired to a corner of the workshop and we shall see what can be done with it next spring!

Pale Indigo

More cleaning up . . . it had been 2 weeks since I used the indigo vat. Last time I used it, I thought I was finished with it and had skimmed off the "flower" to evaporate so I could use the residue as a pigment paint.
I thought I would try setting the vat in the corner of the workshop for the winter to see if it could be revived next summer. (I hate to dispose of all those chemicals if they can be used again!).

Well, when I peeked in the vat - I was surprised to see it was still active! Hmmm . . .
Another creative task I could do with a broken arm!
So, I scrambled around for a few items I'd be able to dye.

It was tough getting a rubber glove on over my brace, and I ripped one doing so.

Surprisingly, this group of items yielded a much paler shade of indigo. The two yardage samples above are from left Ecology Cloth (natural cotton) and Cotton Broadcloth (bleached and mercerized. Below, I have included a yard of the Ecology cloth I dyed in July - so much darker!
Each of these were dipped only once.

This cotton cable sweater was purchased from the clearance rack at Target.
The T-shirt below came from my brother-in-law during a visit last spring.
It was ripped around the neck and he gave it to me as a paintshirt. I decided to alter it a bit before dipping.

This turned out to be a very comfortable summer top - I've already worn it!

Indigo - Reviving the Vat

My indigo vat has been languishing in the bucket over the past 2 months. It was completely oxidized, but I have instructions for reviving it, so I spent a day adding chemicals - waiting - adding more - waiting - and viola! It came back to life! What fun!

It changed from a dull murky puddle to this - yellow-green liquid beneath a coppery blue surface, with a nice bubbly "flower" floating on top!
I wanted to try starting with some MX dyed fabrics - I chose these yellow and pink pieces - hoping for results more in the greenish or purplish range.

One dip - a quick one - just 5 minutes.

I swear, watching the change from yellow green to dark indigo is a lot of fun.

These three were pulled out one after another . . .

A little grasshopper stopped by to investigate.

My results.

Now, I have skimmed off the flower and am going to set it aside to allow the water to evaporate out. I have printed out instructions from John Marshall's website - for using the remaining residue as a pigment paint for fabric with soy milk as a binding agent. Stay tuned!

Indigo Dyeing - Still Singin' the Blues!

I am pleased with the results of this kanoko shibori on this raw silk jacket with patch pockets on the front.

You can see the nice texture of this raw silk weave. This is my new favorite silk fabric - ordered from Exotic Silks (wholesale). I love it - some of the threads are quite shiny, and it is very easy to sew (for silk). I also really love the variegation I got with the indigo on this jacket - even though it was dipped twice.

Indigo! Still Singing The Blues!

More Indigo Dyeing

The vat is still good after sitting a few days, so I decided to try some more items.
I did more elaborate shibori techniques this time. Above, on the clothesline - a long sleeve T-shirt, two silk scarves, and a raw silk jacket. Below, four arashi shibori scarves.

Here is the pile of unwrapped indigo dyed items - ready for pre-washing. I soaked everything in cool water for a few hours prior to washing with Orvis paste.

I am happy with the T-shirt!

Sleeve detail of the T-shirt below.

The silk scarves also turned out really great!

More indigo to come!

Indigo Love

The texture created by irregularities and manipulation with the indigo are very exciting to me.

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It has certainly exceeded my expectations. This is the cotton bog jacket I showed you earlier - now it has been dyed and washed out . . . . and ironed. Love it.

(Please forgive the inconsistencies in color in my images. I am just not up to messing around with the color on all these shots. Not sure why I am getting such variation - same camera, lights, etc.!)

I am really pleased with these three scarves, as well. I am going to have to do more!

I checked the vat this morning - it is still active. Now that I know how it all works - I can continue with confidence.

Indigo to Dye For

Success!
I am really happy with the results of my first experience using indigo. Now that I see how wonderful everything looks - and realize how very simple this freeze dried indigo is to use - I wonder what took me so long . . . .

One thing that is a bit off-putting is the smell. The vat is smelly and there is a smell that lingers on the fabric or garment even after the washout. Joe and I both remember how our new blue jeans used to smell the first month or so. That's the smell.

The image above shows the two pieces of cotton yardage I dyed. One was dipped twice, the other only once. It's pretty obvious which is which.

Just love the texture that was created on this cotton yardage. Must do more!

I'll be showing you more of my results next time.

Indigo Dyeing Continued

Here you can see two pieces of fabric on the grass. The one further away has just come out of the vat. The one closer came out a bit earlier. It is really fun watching the colors change before your eyes!

I dyed a number of T shirts, jackets, and scarves. I placed them on plastic lids in the sunshine to oxidize. I had to keep moving the fabric around to expose pleated areas, etc. so everything could oxidize.

As the fabric came out of the vat, it was green, gradually shifting to a nice dark blue.

Even on the second or third dip in the vat - the fabric would look green when it came out . . .even though it would be dark blue going in. Interesting!

I hung everything out on the clothesline to dry. Apparently the dye fixes better if it is fully dry when you do the washout. It got into the 90's today, so things should dry quickly.

The pale blue fabric only went into the vat once. The loosely woven wraps went in twice, and three times. The jackets went in two or three times.

It is so hard to wait . . . but I know I really need to delay handling these fabrics any more until they are fully dry. Then I will remove the ties and do a wash out. Stay tuned!

Indigo Dyeing

I've had indigo dyeing on my mind for a number of years.
Finally! I was able to do it!

I wanted to do some garment dyeing, so I created several Bog Coats - such as this one above. A super simple pattern to make - from a single piece of fabric. I added patch pockets. The one in the picture is made of cotton, but I also made a couple in silk.
These were manipulated shibori style prior to dyeing to create visual interest.

I used the instructions for pre-reduced indigo from Earth Guild at earthguild.com.
I'd ordered the pre-reduced indigo and Sodium Hydrosulfite from Shibori Dragon.
I also referred to "A Handbook of Indigo Dyeing" by Vivien Prideaux, published by Search Press.

The Earth Guild / Jacquard recipe was super easy to follow and worked perfectly in the 5 gallon bucket I wanted to use. Apparently, this will keep for quite a long time if it is properly maintained! Fortunately, I also have instructions for maintaining the vat.
So, in the picture above, you can see the stirring process after all ingredients were added to the vat. Below - see the "flower" in the center. This is skimmed off the surface before you start dyeing.

You can see that the liquid is clear yellowish green, but the surface is dark blue/indigo with a coppery metallic sheen. Beautiful!

The fabric looks pale yellow green when it is first removed from the vat.

Different shades of green - depending on the fabric.

I'll continue on about indigo dyeing in the next post.