Indigo Dye Kit

Indigo. The most mystically charged of the natural dye colours. The colour of the sea, the sky and of our beautiful living planet. Its bluey charm concealed inside green leaves, and transformed only by a certain alchemical knowledge and practised skill. It has captured the imagination of many.

Indigo gets its name from the country India, the earliest major centre of natural indigo production, from where it found its way to Greece and the Roman empire.

In terms of sustainability, the fact that it is not soluble in water, means that the amount of water used in the process is very minimal. And once in the vat, it stays there. It is never removed as the vat can continue to be balanced with the addition of more dye ingredients, to allow for more dyeing.
It also does not require a mordant, which further saves the usage of time, energy and water, in comparison to most other types of dye.

For centuries, indigenous cultures around the world have used a traditional fermentation vat technique to do indigo dyeing. This is a very skilled art and takes a long time, usually around 10 days at least to prepare the vat before even being able to use it. And once ready, it takes a very experienced dyer to keep it balanced and in a dyeable state. Any irregularities can imbalance the vat and set back the dyer several more days before dyeing can proceed again.

A simplified recipe was thankfully developed by french chemist and natural dyer, Michel Garcia.
He devised a method which is relatively easy to do, using only 3 natural ingredients and a simple, straight-forward process.

This vat recipe uses only the ingredients: Slaked lime, fructose sugar and indigo.

This gorgeous packages contain a lovingly hand wrapped collection of:

- Organic indigo extract powder
- Fructose crystals
- Natural lime powder
- An organic unbleached cotton tea towel (sewn with organic cotton thread)
- A length of natural jute string or wooden pegs for binding and creating fun resist pattens on your textiles.
- Instructional paper print out/ or digital pdf sent to your email.

These packs are individually hand wrapped in recycled cardboard boxes, compostable paper packaging and natural plant gum tape and mailed in a compostable mailer bag.

The kit contains enough materials to dye 500g of fabric to a medium to dark blue.
The cloth provided should use less than half the indigo supplies, so you may also like to dye an additional t-shirt or vest. Any light coloured 100% natural fibres will work eg cotton, silk, wool or linen :)

INDIGO DYEING INSTRUCTIONS are included in the kit,
and you may also like to add my book "Botanical Dyes plant-to-print Dyes, Techniques and Projects".
Or the indigo dye video tutorial!
Simply select the additioanl items from the drop down menu at check-out.

Prices:

INDIGO + SHIBORI DYE KIT only = £65
INDIGO + SHIBORI DYE KIT + Video Workshop = £105.00

Please expect 4-5 days for orders to be fulfilled.

You will need: Some simple kitchen equipment - including a large mixing bowl, water jug or cup, thermometer, heat source, 2 x stainless steel pots - one that sits inside the other to create a bain marie, lid, tongs, water and a little time.

Please always be advised to wear protective eye wear, gloves and air mask while handling powders and be careful to avoid any splashes, inhallation of vapour or getting powder or liquid solution on skin. The materials are caustic and can damage skin, eys and air passages. Please keep away from pets and children and store away, in safe dry storage.