INDIGO

I still am in awe of Indigo dye vats. Sometime ago I bought a water heater to make up a new dye bath with woad pigment from Ian Howard at Woad Inc. The recipe I follow is from Ian ie 9.5 litres of water. Washing Soda dissolved in 1/2 litre of water. 10gms of pigment in with the Soda and added to the heated water. 10gms of Hydros added and mixed gently. I actually know it off by heart but the actual chemistry of indigo takes a lot of understanding. The Hydrosulphate releases the pigment so that it will lay onto the fibre but when you take the fibre out of the dye bath it is the oxygen in the air which changes the green colour of the dye bath to the blue of indigo. I wanted to dye one of my final pieces, some scarves and a dress for my daughter so needed more volume. Would adding another 9.5 litres of cold water affect the dye bath well there was only one way to find out! Yes it worked. I am so pleased with the results as well.

To the glory and diversity of indigo. Women in Afghanistan

And one of my efforts using wax resist.

And when I went on one of Ian Howards workshops. I learn something new every time