Indigo dyeing is a kind of reverse process to the usual dyeing techniques because the fabric is dipped into a pale lemony green liquid very briefly then taken out. As it oxidises it turns a deep indigo blue and to control the shade of blue it should be plunged into water to stop the oxidisation.
Anyway in this Shibori dyeing (a sort of tie-dyeing) fabric is folded into a long strip, then wrapped diagonally around a roll and scrunched down.
You can see the stages of oxidisation taking place above.
And here are the results.
It's great fun but worth doing on a course because preparing a vat is complicated and there is enough dye to dye 40 pairs of jeans! It is also extremely messy and my one rubber glove had a hole in it, so I had blue fingers for days on end. You just have to splash a little of the clear lemony liquid on yourself which looks innocuous until it oxidises. Best to wear denim and navy! Soon I'll show you some of my other indigo dyeing including folded paper.
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