Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Indigo Has Passed Away...


And so it seems my indigo vat has passed away. I now realize I missed its fermentation- waiting for something more obvious. But I think I learned a lot trying even this, and have enough indigo left for one more try when the weather turns hot again. I did soak a strip of iron pre-mordanted cotton in the vat after I was sure it had stopped fermenting for about 40 hours, and here it is after two real launders.



The colour is not bleeding when it is rinsed, but I am pretty sure the colour is just sitting on the cloth, and did not actually dye the fibers. But it is so lovely hanging on the line that it attracted a lovely little visitor this morning, who stayed around warming up in the sun.


She cast a lovely morning shadow, too.

4 comments:

  1. What a glorious image, the shadow of the wings! Too beautiful! Mind you the fabrics nice too gal! Colour sat on the surface or not, Id be thrilled with it if it were all my own work!
    Am told Indigo is a fickle lass anyways......:)

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  2. What a beautiful photo. Dragonflies are my personal totem and I love when they pause, long enough for me to capture them in a photo. I have not had a problem with indigo being fugitive. Gorgeous color.

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  3. Thanks Jeannie for the compliments on the photo. I am so pleased it worked, though also surprised! And thanks for the cheery news about the indigo. It has stayed so far, so would be a thrill if this worked.

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  4. well i was just passing through to see what you were up to since contemporary boro and i see this fabulous dragon wing...you should print that out on fabric...if you don't do that...may i and send it to you?

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