my first encounter with indigo

 The last dyeing class at the workroom in Toronto involved shibori techniques of stitching, wrapping, tying, folding and clamping and then dyeing in the magical indigo vat. It also involved preparing the vat which was quite magical and really intriguing for the chemist in me since it involved reduction and oxygenation. I was a little puzzled about why the silk and wools seemed to not dye as strongly as with the other natural dyes until I did some reading about the actual chemical structure of indigo. It is a glycoside, which really means it is a sugar or carbohydrate based dye, not a nitrogen based one. To me as a former chemist that means it will in its reduced form bind better with other carbohydrate based polymers such as plant based fibers ( cotton, linen, hemp, rayon) and not protein based animal fibers such as silk and wool.  Enough of the chemistry and on to the inspiration for my shibori designs. 

No big surprise that they were nature inspired. For my stitched pieces I used the sea fan ( although I agree it does look very tree like as some have suggested) and the spiral of the snail. For the tying samples I used mushroom spore prints and sand dollars as inspiration. I used screws, washers, plungers from syringes and what ever else I could find to tie and wrap around. I also used pebbles to tie around for one of the t shirts and a pair of cotton undies. I used pole wrapping with silk but it was very faint even after dyeing a few rounds. I did a little second pole wrapping with cotton flannel at home with a jar of left over indigo , resurrected with a touch of draino ( yep it worked).  

I haven't taken detailed pictures of everything yet but I even have some indigo cotton tights, undies, tank top, short and long sleeved t shirts and so much more. Can you tell I am smitten?

xxoo

m

Comments

[Sonya]

I love those very faint circles. So beautiful! It really gives you an appreciation for how they get those deep, deep Japanese indigo blues.

[tara]

So beautiful. I am in love with the sea fan . . . and the shell.

[karyn]

lovely! i dream about visiting an indigo artist in japan. imagine keeping an indigo vat alive all the time... a life of lovely blues.

[ozgrkdn]

Hi,we call this ( batik) work in our country.All of are very beautiful.bye

[jenni]

It seems like such creative exciting messy fun, and with a beautiful product on the other-side, i love these colors...reminds me of our summer

[Cozymemories]

such happy happy photos on this Friday ! I love blue ! Ah, now I understand better for the indigo & cellulosic fibers ... thank goodness you're a chemist. I understand why dyeing with indigo & using shibori technique can be so thrilling, it looks enchanting & magical !
have a lovely & colorful Friday my friend oxoxo hugs

[Emma]

So, so beautiful - the spiral you made reminds me a little of your snaily friend.

The subtle rainbow of dyeing in your last post is breathtaking.

[Luisa]

The indigo looks like it's been a lot of fun. The tree and the spiral look cool.

[nicole]

One of my favourite blues... I don't know why, but I'm particularly taken with the idea of indigo tights... Charming.

[Jessie Hansen]

Inspiring

[annri]

fabulous!

[ana isabel]

Yes, we studied indigo quite a lot and used a different recipe for wool and silks to be able to achieve deep blues. I remember the first time our class was introduced indigo, we dipped EVERYTHING! haha indigo is so special!

[Jean Betts]

Thank you for the chemical explanation of the structure of indigo molecules--short and understandable. If you haven't seen Dominique Cardon"s book "Natural Dyes" she has pages of drawings and explanations of chemical structures. Oh, beautiful blue.

[arounna]

so beautiful!
have a wonderful weekend and good luck with studio prep.
xx

[Maiz]

Beautiful indigo, and never "enough" of the chemistry! So interesting!

[allison]

i'm smitten, too! you've done a great job. the colors and fabric look so beautiful!

[Geninne D. Zlatkis]

I'm smitten with your awesomeness :) I love all this indigo! The stained wood boards are incredible.

[Lovely World]

I love all of this Margie. Funny that I was dying silk this week as well. When I was in my last year of college I lived off-campus at a residential craft school. I worked part-time as the property/conference manager. One of my jobs was to maintain the indigo dye vat. It is a living thing really.

[helle Jorgensen]

Geez!!!That's amazing.