Prepare to dye
Apr. 25th, 2022 10:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrOur second, two-day workshop had a mangled Princess Bride quote running over and over in my head.
My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my Father. Prepare to dye.
Indigo is an amazing material. It's produced by plants on every continent but Antarctica, including three in North and Central America. Cultures all over the world have learned to dye with it, even though it's a mind-bogglingly complicated process. Blue indigo isn't water-soluble, you see, so won't stick to fabric. To make it do so, you need to warm it up and chemically treat it so it has a high pH and a reduced oxidation state. Different peoples have treated it by fermentation, by soda ash, by urine. Our dye baths used a combination of indigo, cal (Calcium hydroxide, used in treating corn for tortillas) and Iron sulfide, the reducing agent.
Reduced indigo isn't blue. The fabric or paper comes out of the dye bath a sickly yellow, which rapidly turns blue with exposure to oxygen. Rinsing in cold water accelerates the change, as cold water holds dissolved oxygen. After a brief rest, the piece can return to the bath a second or third time.
Patterns are created by folding and clamping the fabric, preventing the dye from penetrating. We used popsicle sticks, tongue depressors, chopsticks and spring clamps, rubber bands and screw clamps. Iris also had a wide variety of cut-out forms, geometric or figurative, but I liked linear designs best, so didn't actually use the bear cut-outs. (I know, a missed opportunity.)
We spent most of the first day clamping, dying, rinsing and hanging our work like flags across the classroom. Day two we learned to make book cloth from our fabric, and also experimented with dying paper, with varying degrees of success.
We learned square, right triangle and equilateral folds to make a variety of repeating patterns, then graduated to radial folds, making four-, five- and six-fold symmetry. Denise even managed a seven-fold, making the lovely star below.
We also experimented with partial resists, to get varying shades of blue. The center ring of the double star above was a rubber band that came off for the last thirty seconds of the third dip.
It was a fascinating process, and I was almost tempted to put in a bid for one of the dying vats, as Iris could only fit one in her car going home to Astoria.
Then I looked at my schedule for the next two weeks, and came to my senses.
My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my Father. Prepare to dye.
Indigo is an amazing material. It's produced by plants on every continent but Antarctica, including three in North and Central America. Cultures all over the world have learned to dye with it, even though it's a mind-bogglingly complicated process. Blue indigo isn't water-soluble, you see, so won't stick to fabric. To make it do so, you need to warm it up and chemically treat it so it has a high pH and a reduced oxidation state. Different peoples have treated it by fermentation, by soda ash, by urine. Our dye baths used a combination of indigo, cal (Calcium hydroxide, used in treating corn for tortillas) and Iron sulfide, the reducing agent.
Reduced indigo isn't blue. The fabric or paper comes out of the dye bath a sickly yellow, which rapidly turns blue with exposure to oxygen. Rinsing in cold water accelerates the change, as cold water holds dissolved oxygen. After a brief rest, the piece can return to the bath a second or third time.
Patterns are created by folding and clamping the fabric, preventing the dye from penetrating. We used popsicle sticks, tongue depressors, chopsticks and spring clamps, rubber bands and screw clamps. Iris also had a wide variety of cut-out forms, geometric or figurative, but I liked linear designs best, so didn't actually use the bear cut-outs. (I know, a missed opportunity.)
We spent most of the first day clamping, dying, rinsing and hanging our work like flags across the classroom. Day two we learned to make book cloth from our fabric, and also experimented with dying paper, with varying degrees of success.
We learned square, right triangle and equilateral folds to make a variety of repeating patterns, then graduated to radial folds, making four-, five- and six-fold symmetry. Denise even managed a seven-fold, making the lovely star below.
We also experimented with partial resists, to get varying shades of blue. The center ring of the double star above was a rubber band that came off for the last thirty seconds of the third dip.
It was a fascinating process, and I was almost tempted to put in a bid for one of the dying vats, as Iris could only fit one in her car going home to Astoria.
Then I looked at my schedule for the next two weeks, and came to my senses.
no subject
Date: 2022-04-26 02:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-04-26 02:52 pm (UTC)The classes were great, though. Now I have so many ideas for new book projects...
no subject
Date: 2022-04-26 03:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-04-26 06:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-04-29 04:11 pm (UTC)