My visit to Japan last year inspired me to learn more about indigo dyeing, which led me down a road of researching and watching tutorials. I used Graham Keegan's Natural Indigo dye kit: ( amzn.to/2GrzBKN ) and loved reading through the book "Indigo: Cultivate, Dye, Create" by Douglas Luhanko & Kerstin Neumuller ( amzn.to/3lfWQ9w ). These two resources set up the scene for this wild journey of trying to figure out how to indigo dye. Madeline used an old Hollister Dress that was a blend of cotton and polyester while I used a Viscose shirt that was 1 size too big since I knew it would shrink in the scouring and drying process down a medium (which fit perfectly!). I had a bunch of blank white hats I wanted to dye as well!
If you are an indigo expert, please let us know how to improve or offer us pointers and more tools that are useful! If you are just trying out for the first time, let us know what questions you have and we will do our best to answer them or refer you to someone who can help you!
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Lessons learned:
- Indigo dyeing is great for upcycling old clothes!
- Scouring shrinks fabric materials dramatically.
- Massaging the materials underwater gets the pigment into folds and pleats and helps to darken the fabric
- Aim to dye 2 shades darker than the color wanted since the fabric will lighten after washing out excess pigment/drying.
- Don't let the items sit at the bottom where the sediment is since it won't dye where it sits on the fabric
- Indigo is a slow and methodical process and a labor of love.
- Even dyes take time and practice to master.
- Each fabric reacts differently to indigo.
- Indigo is fun so practice, practice, practice!
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Here's a list of affiliate links/resources from Amazon I used to make this all happen:
amazon.com/sho...
protective mask: amzn.to/33y2fCU
5 gallon sealable bucket: amzn.to/3lfwbJL (They were sold out in every hardware store in the area because of COVID!
stainless steel tongs: amzn.to/36xJNMj
kitchen scale: amzn.to/30Bt8Uj
stainless steel skimmer: amzn.to/3izfNC0
Heavy Duty Gloves: amzn.to/3nerW37
Olive Oil Soap: amzn.to/3liJnNU
Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda: amzn.to/34vj9RC
PH Neutral Soap: amzn.to/30A8ioh
Camera Equipment:
Canon Camera EOS M100: amzn.to/3izGqXM
Geekoto Camera Tripod: amzn.to/36CMjRw
Iphone Tripod: amzn.to/33y3a6k
Microphone Recording: amzn.to/3d28y4w
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Music:
Stupead - Alright
DJ Quads - Wonderful World
Eiiwun - You N'I
Olmos - Hold Me
Saib - Sakura Trees
Ratatouille - Le Festin (best version).
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Follow Madeline on Instagram: / mmcgraingithler
Online Store: www.beaubernie...