Murky Indigo Vat Questions for FEEDBACK FRIDAY
This week: A newcomer to natural dyeing tackles her indigo vat and has lots of questions…
Search Results for: indigo
Indigo Vat Building Questions for FEEDBACK FRIDAY
This week: Lots of questions on the 1-2-3 Indigo Vat!
Henna Indigo Vat Questions for FEEDBACK FRIDAY
Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: After using the 1-2-3 indigo dye vat, do you need to mordant the now blue skein before you overdye with yellow to get green or madder to get purple? If you are overdyeing with a dye that does not require a mordant (like walnut hulls, for example), then you do not need to mordant after indigo dipping. … Read more
Aluminum Indigo Pot Questions for FEEDBACK FRIDAY
This week: Woodblock printing with indigo and what’s the best type of pot to use for an indigo vat?
Green Recipes using Indigo for FEEDBACK FRIDAY
This week: Botanical Colors founder Kathy Hattori with her own musings and color recipes inspired by The Art and Science of Natural Dyes by Joy Boutrup and Catharine Ellis
MORDANT MONDAY: Will Mordant Affect Indigo Dyeing?
We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] YOU ASKED: I use aluminum triformate as my mordant for cellulose and silk. I am planning to dye linen with weld and was told that I didn’t need to use a tannin before dyeing if using potassium triformate.If I do need to use a tannin and have already mordanted the linen, do I go back and use tannin and remordant? KATHY ANSWERED: I have concentrated on using a tannin pretreat with aluminum sulfate and haven’t done so as frequently … Read more
Mordant Monday: Walnut, Madder, Iron and Indigo
Black Walnut Juglans nigra is one of our most interesting tannins and it’s a color that’s native to the North American continent. The entire tree contains color but it is in the green hulls that we find a strong concentration of dark tannins yield light beige to golden brown on cellulose. On wool, black walnut really shines and makes a rich brown shade. Walnut Hull Powder from black walnut (Juglans nigra) is a common source of brown dye throughout North America. The fleshy hulls are full of tannin, juglone and other pigments and are the primary source of the dye. … Read more
Mordant Monday: Does Indigo Damage Mordants
We get mordant questions all the time at Botanical Colors so why not create Mordant Monday??? Got mordanting questions? Email [email protected] 2 light indigo dips on mordanted silk before immersing in exhaust dye baths to make pastels YOU ASKED: My question involves the processes of indigo dyeing when combined with other plant dyes that have been mordanted with aluminum acetate. My understanding is that citric acid discharges the mordant and also neutralizes the alkalinity of indigo as a last step in finishing indigo dyed cloth. How would you go about neutralizing indigo without discharging mordant? For some processes, I am … Read more
Blue Alchemy, a Documentary on Indigo’s Rich History
According to the BLUE ALCHEMY: Stories of Indigo site, the documentary is a feature-length documentary about indigo, “a blue dye that has captured the human imagination for millennia. It is also about people who are reviving indigo in projects that are intended to improve life in their communities, preserve cultural integrity, improve the environment, and bring beauty to the world.” Mary Lance filmed BLUE ALCHEMY in India, Japan, Bangladesh, Mexico, El Salvador, Nigeria, and the USA. Have you seen it? Thoughts? BLUE ALCHEMY: Stories of Indigo Trailer from Mary Lance on Vimeo.