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.