Learn to make a personal natural indigo vat without worrying about toxicity or cost of heavy chemicals. These vats use a natural chemical reduction process to produce a quick, reliable, long-lasting indigo blue. I’ll provide a brief overview of indigo’s historical highlights and chemical quirks, and guide you through making a natural reduction vat. We’ll explore simple resist techniques to produce patterns on silk and cellulose fabrics and then introduce the added beauty of rust prints in combination with the indigo. Finally, we’ll cover care and maintenance of the vat and give you the option of taking one home.
Sample fabrics are included in the workshop fee. Students should bring additional yardage: 3-5 yards of silk, cotton, linen or other cellulose fibers. Cotton t-shirts, linen napkins, cotton sheets are appropriate. These materials should be pre-washed in hot water and dried without fabric softener. A variety of metal shapes will be available to use but students are welcome to bring personal metal pieces to experiment with.
Please be advised that students should wear appropriate clothing and shoes, items that you won’t mind potentially being stained with indigo. Bring a pair of rubber gloves and an apron if you like. If you wish to take home a sample of the indigo vat for further exploration, bring a one-gallon container with a tight fitting lid, such as a paint bucket.
Students are encouraged to bring a sack lunch. Coffee, tea, water and light snacks will be served.
Limit 8 students.