Cynthia St. Charles Store

Monday, August 24, 2009

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!

2 comments:

  1. This is wonderful. I've yet to attempt indigo, I'm a bit intimidated by it, still. It will probably be one of those things I take a class on first, or at least dive into a couple of good books about!

    Your results are absolutely lovely.

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  2. My fingers are itching! I can't wait for the weather to improve enough for me to get outside and try indigo dyeing! I just love your results!

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