Beautiful Blues: Indigo Dyeing

Indigo dyed fibres

Indigo dyed fibres

On a not totally horrible Sunday I decided to have a go at indigo dyeing. I've always been interested in natural dyeing and over the past years have collected a number of recipes and possibly one or two supplies! I have played around a little bit with natural dyeing and I really like the unpredictable nature of it. The idea of being able to create colour from something I've grown also appeals and as we are in the process of doing up the garden this will hopefully soon become a reality.

Stitch-resist

Fibres and materials

Fibres 

Wetting the fibres before dyeing

I set aside the whole day which turned out to be a good move, although it's not difficult it is helpful to have time to work through the different stages of the process. I like dyeing as it's a mixture of science and art. It involves basic chemistry and the results are always exciting to me. I have a fairly loose approach to following the 'rules' for dyeing. I prefer to follow the basic guidelines and embrace the quirks that emerge from making errors.

Mixing the indigo dye

Indigo solution

That said, I was a little more careful with the indigo dyeing as it is important not to introduce oxygen into the dye-bath as this is what 'fixes' the dye, which I obviously don't want to happen until the dye is attached to the fibres I'm dyeing. I'd prepared a range of fibres including wool, silk, cotton and linen so I could see how each fibre reacted. I'd also prepared a couple of bits of fabric with a stitches resist to see what effects that would yield.

Hi tech insulated dye-bath

Making sure the temperature was right

Keeping the temperature right

Having mixed up the dye-bath and prepared all my fibres I got to the exciting bit, dyeing! It really was exciting lifting the fibres out of the yellowy green murk of the dye-bath and watching as they turned from bright acid green to beautiful blue indigo in a matter of moments. As the dye oxidises and fixes in the air amazing marbled patterns are created on the fabric as the air hits different parts of the fabric at different times. I didn't have either of my cameras with me (one I'd left at the prism studio and Mr. Stitches was borrowing the other one on a trip out) so I was only able to capture a few shots on my 'phone's fairly rubbish camera. However, it gives an idea of what happens (and gives me an excuse to do it all again!)

The dye-bath, when ready, goes a yellowy green colour

Fibres in the dye-bath

Fibres ready for dyeing

Indigo dyeing is a little different to most other dye processes. For one thing no mordants are required as the dye is fixed by being exposed to the air. Usually when dyeing to obtain darker or more intense shades you leave the fibres in the dye-bath for a longer period of time but in indigo dyeing darker shades are achieved by repeating the dipping process. So, for a darker indigo you just dye it more times. The fibres spend about 2 minutes in the dye-bath each dip. I had fun experimenting with dipping the fabrics repeatedly to achieve a range of shades from palest blue to much darker hues.

Amazing colours as the fibres come out the dye-bath

Amazing colours as the fibres come out the dye-bath

Amazing colours as the fibres come out the dye-bath

Amazing colours as the fibres come out the dye-bath

One of my favourite parts of the process was hanging all my dyed fibres on a line and watching them flap about in the wind. The different shades of blue against the green of the hedge and the grey of the sky looked so beautiful, almost an artwork in themselves. I'm really pleased with my dyes fibres and am looking forward to using them in my work. I'm also looking forward to some more experiments in natural dyeing...

Flying in the wind

Fibres on the line

Fibres on the line

Fibres on the line

Cotton, stitched cotton and wool

Silks, dipped multiple times to create different shades

Silk and linen

Wrapping

Thread Wrapped Branch, 2015

One of the great things about the work I do is the way that ideas and techniques cross over from my personal practice into my work with people and vice versa. For example, when I began my Applied Textiles sessions with the No Borders Art Group in November last year one of the first activities we did was thread wraps as I thought it would be a good way to start having a play with colours and textures. In my first year at Uni we did a lot of thread wraps (which I didn't really enjoy at the time) and they are a good way of exploring how colours work together.

Thread Wrapped branch made by No Borders participant, 2014

Thread Wrapped branch made by No Borders participant, 2014

Thread Wrapped branch made by No Borders participant, 2014

One member of the group really got into the thread wrapping and her main project for the sessions was a thread wrapped branch. Inspired by her enthusiasm for the technique I did a thread wrapped piece of driftwood as a sample and really enjoyed it. It's a very therapeutic technique, quite slow and methodical which allows the mind to wander and explore different ideas.

'Scotland' thread wrapped branch, 2014

'Scotland' thread wrapped branch, 2014

'Scotland' thread wrapped branch, 2014

As well as enjoying the process I like the look of the wrapped branches and the ideas it stirs, it feeds back to my interest in dichotomies such as the hidden/revealed and exposed/protected. So, I decided to explore a bit further.

'Scotland' thread wrapped branch, in my studio

'Scotland' thread wrapped branch, 2014

'Scotland' thread wrapped branch, 2014

The sample piece I'd made was inspired by our holidays in Scotland; the soft, rain washed blues and greys of the sea and sky and the bright purples and pinks of the heathers. I also used a lot of threads I'd collected on holiday so for me this piece really has a strong connection with place and memory. In my further explorations I was more interested in looking at the ideas mentioned before rather than creating something specific to a time and place.

At work

In progress

Wrapped and dyed sample

This led me to work in neutral colours and I chose mostly natural fibres as I was thinking about dying the finished piece. I did a small sample to start off with, which I floated in a dye bath for a while before I began on a larger piece. As can be seen in the small sample different fibres absorb dye differently so when I was wrapping I used different threads in different sections but also did a lot of overlapping, to build up different tonal and textural effects.

Wrapping with different threads

Wrapped and ready to dye

Dip dyeing

As I was working one of the ends of thread worked itself loose. I was about to re-wrap it but looking at the work I decided not to and then deliberately left other threads hanging, I like the way they reach out from the piece, connecting to the space around it.

Drip drying

Wrapped and dyed branch

Detail

I thought about how I would dye the piece as I was wrapping and decided to dip dye it. I'm really pleased with the result, I like the changes but after discussion with some of my fellow artists I'm inclined to agree with them that the gradation needs to be a bit more subtle. So, next time I will be using a bucket to dye the piece so I can dip more into the dye at once!

Thread Wrapped Branch, 2015

Detail

Detail

This has been an interesting piece to work on and I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops in the future, I'm not quite sure where it's going but I've got a feeling it could be interesting and is worth exploring further...

Quilting progress

So, I got my fabric dyed up ready for my quilt. I was really pleased with the colour of the organza but the mid layer was too pale and subtle to be seen underneath it. So I added a bit of detail with watered down fabric paint.

Mid layer of fabric

I also painted some crows onto organza and have begun stitching into them with my sewing machine. I've been using some extremely slippery viscose threads which have a lovely sheen and look great but are a pain to work with as they keep snapping! However, I'm really pleased with how they're working out and I think they will look very good when they're completed and attached to the background. Lots more stitching to go...

Detail of partially stitched organza crow

As the organza is very fine, when I painted it, a lot of paint went through the fabric and I ended up with a cool image on the paper underneath. I think this will be good to work into as the colours show up better on the paper than they did on the fabric, it will be a good base for a drawing!

'Accidental' drawing