Aboubakar, an Indigo specialist, took us through the basics of successful dyeing with Indigo over a 3 day period.
We used a fructose and lime vat with natural indigo; the so called 123 method which means: 1 part indigo, 2 parts lime, 3 parts fructose. Following is a brief outline of the method we used:
Step one : calculate the percentage of indigo to water that you wish to use. This is really up to the dyer, but we were using 5% indigo in an 80 litre vat. Therefore 400 grams indigo.
Step two: calculate the quantities of lime and fructose which were 800grams lime and 1200grams fructose.
Step three: make sure the vat is very clean inside and out and wash all utensils to be used for stirring, measuring etc.
Step four: fill the vat with hot water and grind the indigo in a mortar and pestle using some of the vat water. This takes time and needs to be done thoroughly. With some more of the vat water, mix the lime to a paste and dissolve the fructose. This takes some forward planning because you need to end up with all the ingredients mixed with water, but no more than 80 litres in the vat.
Step five: wash the fabric/ fibre to be used thoroughly with a mild soap then soak it in a mix of soda ash and water.
Step six: with a clean bucket nearby to catch drips etc., immerse your fabric/fibre into the vat, massage quickly and squeeze excess dye out on the edge of the vat so as not to add bubbles of oxygen.
Step seven: oxydise the fabric/fibre thoroughly before returning it to the vat for more dips.
The most important concept to remember is that indigo is built up in layers on the molecules of the fabric/fibre, so many dips are required to build up colour. Below is my sample of 7 shades of blue which was our goal for the workshop. After we had achieved that aim, we were free to do our own samples.
The most difficult colour was the pale blue followed by the darkest colour, almost black. Master dyers can produce 12 shades of blue; that is my next challenge!
 |
| Our assignment - to dye 7 shades of blue from the one va |
