A couple of weeks ago I donned my emergency coat, commandeered the camping stove, claimed one of our biggest pans for a bout of al fresco indigo dyeing. This was my first experience of dyeing using indigo, and I was most definitely not disappointed. I has bought a kit from DT Crafts http://www.dtcrafts.co.uk/dyesFixers/naturalDyes/naturalDyeKitIndex.html which is a kit for dyeing with powdered woad and indigo. The instructions and contents were very straightforward to follow so I didn’t have too many problems getting my dye vat going
And here is the dye vat once it had been kept warm for forty minutes, the yellowy green scum indicates it is ready to dye with, it was helpful that I had seen this done before so I knew what I was looking for.
The most important thing to remember with indigo dyeing is not to introduce air or oxygen to the dye vat, oh and that it really really smells, definitely a summer task in future I think!
The above photos show the yarn partially then fully submerged, you can see on the photograph on the left the vibrancy of the indigo dye where it has oxidised slightly on coming into contact with the air. On the second photograph you can see all of the yarn submerged, this was my first important learning point, to ensure in future that I don’t put too much into the vat otherwise some of the dyestuff is exposed to the air and is not absorbing dye into the fibres at the same rate as the rest of the fibres which are submerged.
The above photographs show firstly the fleece as soon as it has been lifted from the vat, this fleece has oxidised very quickly meaning it had already turned blue by the time I took the photograph, as soon as it is lifted from the vat the yarn or fleece is a yellowy green. Indigo dyeing in this way really is a magical process, watching the colour appear really is amazing and the depth of colour that can be achieved is wonderful. The Second photograph above is the same fleece after it has been exposed to the air for ten minutes, giving a really dark navy blue.
This final photograph shows the fleece which has gradually used up the indigo from the vat, there are four different tones, the darkest being the first in through to a very pale blue which looks like stone washed denim.
I think in future I need to rinse more following the dyeing , however I really do think this is a dyeing method I am going to take to.
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