I love watching you work! (and your home is just gorgeous) I have a used white cotton t shirt that I've been hanging on to - I wonder if the leaf massaging technique would work with that? I won't expect a dark or vibrant colour, but even something pale would be fun to make! I would love to make green dyes - apparently yarrow can make a pale olive green!

what plant is this exactly?

I could just listen to you for hours. You're informative and you're not screaming at the screen like some KZfaqrs. If you ever narrate anything like a book, I'll buy it. Whatever the subject lol. I'm passing your videos on to my friends :)

Well what an honour to inspire you back! Welcome back to the world of natural dyes …. 💙💙

You’re welcome... thanks for watching!!

You’re welcome 💛❤️🤍

Thank you so much! Yes I did my first indigo cats with those chemicals but I much prefer to avoid them! 💙💙

Yay I hope you enjoy

Thanks 💙

Do it ! You won’t retreat it

Regret

💙

You’re so welcome! I make most of the things I’m wearing in my videos.. you can check out our website billynou.com to have a look... and the silver bangles were a gift from my mother in law 🥰🥰

Thank you 🙏🏽 So exciting that you’re growing some this year! Good luck ✨

And thank you so much for your lovely comment! Yes the patterns ARE in the works 😅 something that should have taken me a few days has basically taken me nearly two years 🤦🏽‍♀️ 🤦🏽‍♀️ thanks for your continued patience 💕💕💕

@@billynou You have accomplished so much and while being a loving attentive mum, I think you’re doing pretty fantastic. Also, producing a multi-size sewing pattern is not what I’d see taking a few days! I hope it all goes smoothly for you, thank you for the generous reply💕💕💕

Yes.... from liz.... @thedogwooddyer on Instagram. I’m not sure if she has any left this year but you could also try George @bailiwickblue ... I also got some seeds from there this year too .... it’s also depends where you are though as I know George doesn’t post to America. 💙🌱

Hmm the ones outside maybe 3 hours and the ones on my window sill a lot less ... I think 4 hours is plenty although I’m not 100% on the technicalities of growing ... you can usually see if they’re struggling or thriving 💙🌱

Yes it just gives the colours a chance to settle into the fabric 😊

Hello… so yes, in a way…. It really depends on how well you’ve prepared the fiber, what fiber you’ve used and what kind of indigo… can all have an effect but yes it’s normal for some colour to part after being dyed. In general though indigo has a very good colour fastness 😊

@@billynou Thanks!

Hey... you can check out our soy milk video for a bit more info but basically the proteins in the milks offer the colours something to bind to. Vinegar won’t have the same effect. I tend to soak for about 24 hours stirring regularly ☺️

You could definitely try over dying it with something like Indigo and maybe try a tie dye technique for pattern…. I quite like the “scrunch up the fabric randomly “ technique ☺️

Thank you! I get a lot of fibers from all over the place. I get a lot of vintage fabric from locals here in France and some new fibers from some a Uk based company called organic textiles company . Hope that helps!

@@billynou thank you so much for answering

Haha ... don’t worry she’ll be back 🦄🥰

❤️

Japanese indigo 💙💙 (Persicaria tinctoria )

Yes you could... but you might just end up with not a very impressive colour ( although I’ve never tried so it might be worth experimenting) if you’re thinking of trying to get green for example you could overdye indigo with a yellow dye... you can over dye lots of colours to get different shades etc 😊

@@billynou thank you so much for responding! That’s so nice! I really enjoy your videos, they really inspired me to try dyeing fabric myself and it’s been really fun so far

Hmm honestly no I don’t know why this might have happened! I’m not an indigo expert but you could head over to indigo pigment extraction methods face book group ... there is lots of info there 💙

@@billynou thank you very much I’ll check it out :)

Erm I’m not sure about Epsom salt? I don’t see why not.... it’s to help draw the moisture out so I guess so... give it a go ☺️

I’d be more inclined to make a dye bath with the leaves from an avocado tree. This works with indigo because of the unique properties of indigo enabling it to bind to the fibers .... 😊

I do sometime give them a dip in soy milk after.... like a soy milk sunscreen .... a tip I got from @seaspellfiber and it seems to help 🌱

They turned out really well! It’s important to use the soy milk in fresh method as it really helps the colour fastness 💙

It’s Japanese indigo 😊

I’ve never made sauerkraut but now I want to!!

@@billynou It's really easy. You knead shredded cabbage with 2-3% its weight in salt until it goes floppy and gives up a lot of juice. Then you pack it into jars with weights on top so all the cabbage is submerged in juice. Then you let it ferment at room temperature as long as you want. It bubbles for the first week or so, and then keeps fermenting without bubbles. Some people incorporate spices or other small pieces of vegetables (e.g., shredded carrots) into the shredded cabbage before starting. 2-3% salt is about the level where most people start to worry the cabbage is oversalted, so you can do it by taste if you're willing to tolerate a bit of risk. Also, there's special glass/ceramic fermentation weights you can get, or you can use a ziplock bag of 3% saltwater, or a clean rock that won't break up in water, or lots of other options. And the bubbles from fermentation can expel some of the cabbage juice from the jars, so keep a plate or dish under them until that stops.

I’m not familiar with green indigo powder?

I believe it is simply indigo leaf powder.

I think it’s normally blue pigment that has been extracted from the plant. You can’t do this method with the powder though, you’d have to make a vat which is a little more complicated.... check out @seaspellfiber on Instagram, she is an excellent indigo source and has a beautiful online course available 💙

@@billynou thank you!

Don’t know about that I’m aftaid?

Yes it works really well ☺️

Yes that’s it 😊

@@billynou thank you! I was telling a friend about your video so I wanted to make sure I had the right plant

It’s Japanese indigo. Persicaria tinctoria

Sorry you didn’t find this helpful Natty 😊

Japanese 😊

@@billynou tx, now i know how to not waste my one little plant. :) got one from the farmer's market, might get another next week if I have the cash.