I am a very tired old lady tonight. I had a marathon dyeing day with the big old natural indigo pot. Here it is being readied for the day’s activities. The sludge which lies on the top has to be removed and saved to be put back in at the end.

Here is one of the pvc pipes with an arashi wrap that has been dyed in the big pot.

Imagine a pole a couple of inches wider that that one and about 5 feet tall which is what I use to wrap a large silk charmeuse scarf. Silk requires several dips in the pot and then oxidation in between. While this gigantic pole is in the pot, it must be held so that it does not touch the bottom where it will disturb the sludge that develops over time. I think I dipped it about 10 -12 times. Here is the resulting scarf hanging to dry. It is the large scarf on the left.

I did several other pieces and pulled the threads on some pieces that I made yesterday. I am just too pooped to take photos so you will have to wait. Here is my old lime green t-shirt transformed, however.

We could only use the natural indigo until 2 pm and then we had to put the scum back in and add some lime to bring it back to life and then it needs to rest overnight. Here it is all bubbling and full of life. The slimy stuff is called the flower.

This is a college level class for which one can get credit and so a final project is expected. That is to be our work for the next two days. I am one of those follow the rules kinda people so when asked what I would do for the project, I proposed dyeing fabric to make a bog coat. It is a patternless, kimono like coat. I left class early to come home and prepare some fabric. To be honest, I ran out of gas and don’t have the energy to do it. Instead, I am just gonna keep dyeing scarves and making fabric which I can use in quilts.

I thought this was a cool site – the indigo gloves.