Indigo the next day....

I've had a few interuptions along the way....known as "life"...not complaining but so sorry to get back to this post so late. I had some time left on my Indigo pot...I can't get them to last as long as they're supposed to. The few days after the F Junkies were here, it rained like crazy so I couldn't do my Indigo.

I did have everything ready set to go and when the sun came out...I was outside like a flash. I do have a lot of "before and afters". It's fun to see how the resist affected the dyeing process. The above is corks wrapped with rubber bands.

Gosh...remember these...I used to actually sleep on these horrific things. I remember in college, setting my hair and wearing a big hat to cover them when I went to dinner in the dining hall as the rule was - no curlers allowed.

When I use them in the fabric, I intentionally crinkle up the fabric before putting the cap on the roller. First of all, it helps the curler to stay put with the extra bulk in there and it also makes for a more interesting design.

Pretty interesting and I would think most people could guess what made the design...especially the "curler generation"...like myself.

The above set of pictures are all the same fabric....photo of bottom 2 not true to the colors. I used a pink fabric printed with purple paint, wrapped in corked. I thought maybe having the paint on there would create a resist....and it does if you can see that in the photo.

I loved this next one - using old bobbins from a machine I don't have anymore. Not only did I wrap around the bobbin...

but also around the middle of the bobbin .....top right

for a very interesting effect.

The top left was folded around a PVC pipe and the right started with a colored fabric, folded and clamped, then dipped. 

I know I used marbles to wrap around and think the top left is an example...I can tell as it's more of a round shape in the middle.

The left is a scarf which needs more Indigo so it will have to be re-dipped...the right is the marble wrapped. I have to say, at the dollar store, I found the tiniest rubber bands...like 500 for a dollar...and they worked perfect for this type of thing...only need one wrap...maybe 2.

Here is some white silk I wanted to try...silk does work beautifully...

and some dyed fabric

and my studio assistant - Fraggle...He loves hanging out with people AND fabric!

The finished piece...I do like seeing the way Indigo works on colored fabric.

Here are some Lima beans I used a few years back...they took the color so well while wrapped inside the fabric, I decided to save them, shellac them and keep them on display...just too pretty not to. Now I'll have to think of some things to do with all this new pretty Indigo.

Fiber Junkies - Indigo

Fiber Junkies met recently at my home for a day of Indigo dyeing - something we haven't done in a couple of years. We always start with show and tell while we drink coffee and munch on yummy goodies from Denny.

  Susan showed us some of her beautiful work; she has been greatly influenced by Nancy Crow...

 I love this piece as I love hand stitching with thick thread. Think this is embroidery floss.

I thought this piece (above) was so clever. Susan colored different squares - very randomly using oil pastels.

Denny who is so great at layering showed us some beautiful pieces she created with disperse dyes. She uses them so effectively. They work on synthetic or blended fabrics with a high percentage of synthetic fiber.  

So then we headed outside where 2 Indigo pots were waiting for us. I use the pre-reduced Indigo which is easier and just as effective IMHO.

The Indigo turned out really well with a beautiful flower in the center. The "flower" is where the the Indigo collects and is the most concentrated.

You need to remove the "flower", put it on a pan and cover it while you use the Indigo solution. When you are done, the flower is put back in the Indigo pot and covered tightly to prevent oxygen from weakening the solution.

  In my studio, we resisted off areas of fabric to create different effects when dipped in Indigo. PVC pipe was wrapped with fabric and rubber bands. It creates a beautiful striped effect when dipped.

 I used marbles held in place with little rubber bands

 Kate brought wax in a little pan, easily melted and ready to go. This was my least favorite resist as it was hard to remove the wax.

 Corks work great (left) along with clamps and small pieces of plexiglass on right.

 So here are some of the results...

 You can use Indigo on any natural fiber, white or printed. It's interesting how as a group we've gotten into the habit of using some of our not so pretty fabrics to over-dye. We seem to do a lot of rescuing of our fabrics

The light green on the right has not turned blue yet. The transition happens so quickly once you take the fabric out of the solution. 

Some of us thought maybe the white had too much white but it's good to have some lights to work with the dark Indigo.

 I loved this piece that Denny created - a beautifully dyed fabric, resisted with a round shape...looks like a disc (upper left). When you use any shape (here a circle) and the fabric is folded over and over, you lose a little of the original shape.

So happy, happy day with dear, dear friends.
On another note, this week I had my 3rd colonoscopy - I just can't get enough of them (HA)....Not the most fun day but something I needed to do.....so if you are that age...Please consider it....it's something really important we can do for ourselves.