# Dyeing- With organic indigo



## mama879 (Jan 27, 2011)

This came in my in box the other day from weaving today. The pictures did not come out maybe later I can down load them and post them. But I thought it was interesting and it is a cold vats to. She does have a video and there was a demo on it.


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Indigo Dyeing with Silk
A raw silk sample being dyed in a vat of
organic indigo. Learn to make two different
types of indigo dye vats in Dyeing with Indigo. 
Indigo to "Dye" For
Dyeing with indigo is a wonderful way to elevate your handwovens with a near-infinite variety of gorgeous blue shades. Indigo can be used to dye yarns for warp and weft ikat patterning, for woven shibori, or for dyeing your handwovens.

While there are synthetic indigo dye kits on the market, you can achieve better results with a much gentler environmental impact by using organic indigo. Elizabeth McTear has recently released a video, Dyeing with Indigo, that will teach you how to make organic indigo dye vats in your own home. Here's Elizabeth to share why she loves dyeing with organic indigo. ~Andrea

With convenient synthetic indigo kits on the market, you may wonder why I use organic indigo. There are many reasons, including the ecological impact organic indigo vats have over synthetic ones, but there are also aesthetic ones.
Ferrous Indigo Vat Components
The components of a ferrous indigo
vat: organic indigo, ferrous sulfate,
and calcum hydroxide.

I primarily use the ferrous indigo vat for my work. This is a simple recipe of indigo, ferrous sulphate, and calcium hydroxide in a 1:2:3 ratio. It’s a wonderful recipe for cellulose fibers and silks, though using it on wool requires care and caution and a shift in the pH.

Another organic indigo recipe I like to use is the fructose vat. This too is a simple recipe using indigo, soda ash, and fructose crystals (some people have used overripe fruits in place of the fructose crystals). This recipe is wonderful for all fibers, even wool.

Both the ferrous and fructose vats are cold vats. They begin with hot water and then can be used cool, making their carbon footprint smaller than if they required constant heat for use. They can be revitalized several times too, reducing water usage. You'll learn how to make both ferrous and fructose vats in my video, Dyeing with Indigo.
Dyeing with Indigo
Even right out of the dye vat, you can see the difference between yarn dyed in a ferrous vat (left) and a sugar vat (right). While the green coloration of the sugar vat will fade, they will oxidize to different colors. There are other organic indigo recipes out there too, and each produces its own particular range of blues, with subtle shifts and tones. And they’re each easily and safely disposed of either down the drain or composted for your garden.
Samples of Indigo
Samples of cloth dyed with indigo. Samples
are paired so you can see the difference
between the sugar vat (left samples) and the
ferrous vat (right samples). In general, the
sugar vat will get slightly greener results. 

I love the ferrous vat the most because it produces such intense and rich blues for my work. Both the ferrous and fructose vats are quick vats that reduce in about the same time as their synthetic counterpart—an hour—without the use of harsh elements like thiox.

And they’re fairly economical to make as well. Bulk ferrous sulphate (iron) is available from various sources, like Amazon, and calcium hydroxide (Calx) is only about $20 for 1000 grams while fructose powder is about $30 for 1000 grams, allowing you to splurge on high-grade organic indigo powder. I like to purchase mine from Botanical Colors, based in Seattle. Their indigo is $150 for 1000 grams, but it gives excellent results. The average vat (made in a 5 gallon bucket) requires only about 20 grams of indigo to give you rich results. So 1000 grams will go a long way!

Once you have your supplies, it's time to start dyeing! Learn how to make a ferrous vat and a sugar vat in Dyeing with Indigo.

—Elizabeth

P.S. Elizabeth McTear's new video is available on DVD and to download instantly!

Elizabeth McTear	Elizabeth McTear lives and works in Germantown, Pennsylvania, where she works on utilitarian art for the everyday. She uses 100% natural fibers and plant-based and green dyes and pigments. She is the instructor in the videos Natural Shibori: Arashi and Natural Shibori: Itajime.
Ask Madelyn
Madelyn is out of the office, so here's an Ask Madelyn from the archives that will help you make the most of variegated yarns. Try these techniques with yarn you've dyed yourself with indigo using techniques from Dyeing with Indigo! ~Andrea

Dear Madelyn,

When weaving with variegated yarn is it better to use it for the warp or the weft? Which is the best method to showcase the variegations in the yarn?

Thanks,

—Mary Jane Schauer

Hi Mary Jane!

This is a good question, and some of the answer depends on the yarn (especially the way it is colored) and what effect you want.

If it is somewhat irregularly variegated and you use it in both warp and weft in plain weave or lace, say, you’ll get a tweedy, speckled overall look. This can be muddy, depending on the colors, or “textured,” which can be good.

If you use it in one direction, you’ll notice the variegated colors more (pick a dark coordinating solid for the other direction, warp or weft, and that will make the colors stand out). Warp rep or weft rep will show the variegated colors well, though they may still be a bit a-jumble.

For some variegated yarns, the color changes are repeating. That is, you can lay out pieces and line them up so that color changes match. If you figure that out and wind the warp so that happens, your warp will look warp-painted. The same thing could be planned in the weft. If you cross the two, though, the effect will be more or less lost (unless there is a way to make warp and weft color changes coincide!).
Showing off Novelty Yarns
These three pillows are just a few of the ideas Robyn
Spady has for showing off novelty yarns. Learn more in
the May/June 2009 issue of Handwoven!

If the yarn is very special and you really want the color changes to show and to feature the yarn itself, you can use it as an accent thread: it can be a pattern-weft float in overshot, an occasional warp or weft (see “Showing Off Novelty Yarns,” by Robyn Spady, Handwoven May/June 2008), or a supplementary warp with a contrasting-color ground cloth.

I hope this helps!
Madelyn Signature

BeWeave It

Recently, a 6200-year-old indigo-dyed textile was found near Huaca, Peru. This makes it one of the oldest-known cotton textiles archaeologists have yet found and the oldest-known textile to be decorated with indigo. It is 1800 years older than the next-oldest indigo-dyed textile.

This artifact was discovered during a 2009 excavation in a desert area, where many well-preserved artifacts were found. Archaeologists believe the site was most likely a temple where a variety of offerings, including textiles, were placed.

There is a common misconception that sophisticated textile technologies originated in Europe. This find, however, is proof that the Andean people, and others in the New World, were developing these technologies, including the ability to spin cotton and dye with indigo, simultaneously. European techniques, in actuality, replaced the equally sophisticated New World technologies during the conquest, and Europeans quickly co-opted techniques they didn’t have and adapted them to their own design sensibilities. The 6200-year-old textile is now proudly housed in the Cao Museum in Peru. Someday I hope to see it in person! Learn more about the textile here.


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## wordancer (May 4, 2011)

Very interesting! More information to build my general knowledge base of dyeing. Thanks!


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## desireeross (Jun 2, 2013)

Very interesting. Something I've not tried


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## spins2knit (Jul 29, 2013)

That is interesting! The Jacquard kit is not synthetic - just a FYI. One of our dyers did an organic vat yesterday and the results were quite nice though not spectacular. 

There is nothing toxic about my exhausted indigo vat, but that will not happen soon. All the components are natural and if you use the pre-reduced dye there is no lye or other caustic ingredients.

In July our spinning group did a vat and two months later we were still getting good color. The darker colors needed more than one dip, but the lighter ones were gorgeous.


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## wordancer (May 4, 2011)

spins2knit said:


> In July our spinning group did a vat and two months later we were still getting good color. The darker colors needed more than one dip, but the lighter ones were gorgeous.


Wow that is amazing!


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