Indigo dyeing

As I have already mentioned, I get together with a couple of friends each month (when some of us aren't away on textile week-long workshops).

Recently, we did some indigo dyeing. I wasn't particularly well prepared and only took some small pieces of fabric. But I enjoyed the experience and came away with some interesting small pieces of silk and cotton.

I was especially happy as some of them looked a lot like water (to me) and I have put them aside in case I come up with an idea for the Ebb and Flow theme of the Embroiderers Guilds' Members' Exhibition. That isn't till October, so I have a bit of time to think about it.

My friends had much larger ambitions than I, they overdyed some shawls they had. Very successfully, I must add.

At our most recent get-together, one of our group had recently returned from a workshop in the Grampians where she did some natural dyeing. She had some gorgeous show and tell!

She had a woolen scarf/shawl that she had dyed using native cherry (I forget it's proper name, sorry. Also, when I looked it up, there seem to be two sorts, one is eucalyptus and the other is some sort of cyprus. I think she used the cyprus). She made up another indigo vat and showed us a very easy method for overdyeing that used a piece of clothes line that she wrapped the scarf around and scrunched it down. Then she just dipped it in the dye for a few minutes. The result is beautiful.

The other group member had a linen, much looser weave, shawl that she decided to try. It worked wonderfully too.

Wrapping the shawl around the clothes line. 

Letting the dye run off, ready to lay out.