henna Archives - Botanical Colors

Seven swatches of blue fabric from very pale on the left to dark navy blue on the right

A Deep Dive into the 1-2-3 Indigo Vat

Indigo gradation from Aboubakar Fofana’s workshop on indigo. The vat is a 7gpl fructose vat. Diving into indigo blue We have been working with the 1-2-3 indigo vat for nearly 10 years and over time made some adjustments to the original recipe from Michel Garcia. Here we share a recent experiment where we set up 4 different types of 1-2-3 vats and present the results. New instructions are linked below for each vat type with hints for a successful indigo vat! You can also search our blog posts for information on indigo vats and answers to your many questions. Our … Read more

1-2-3 Indigo Vat Preparation Problems for FEEDBACK FRIDAY

This week: Great tips for the famous Michel Garcia 1-2-3 indigo vat!

Is the 1-2-3 Vat Safe Indoors? for FEEDBACK FRIDAY:

This week: Fumes from dyeing inside your home and shifting cochineal

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

Indigo Stock Troubleshooting 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: My indigo stock solution isn’t changing color? What should I do? If you have an indigo flower and metallic scum and you have done all the above steps and it’s still stubbornly dark, opaque blue, add 1 spoonful of calcium hydroxide, and 1 spoonful of fructose or henna, stir carefully and watch for reduction. Gently heating the … Read more