Indigo Dyeing

So excited- I’m dyeing with indigo this morning while my oldest is at school.  I’m using the dye kit I ordered from Noon Design Studios which is super easy to use.  All the components come in one box in dissolvable packaging for no mess.  The kit has everything you need to dye 5-8 natural fiber items.  It includes gloves, soda ash, indigo and an oxygen reducer  all in a beautifully wrapped package!   I figured this would be a great way to start out with indigo since it would be a bit too messy to make up my own indigo vat in my little 2 bed 1 bath condo with the kids around.  We’re saving up for a house right now, so hopefully in a year or two I’ll have my own studio space and a nice garden for working outdoors!

Yesterday I got all my pieces ready for the dye bath. First off the reason for the indigo, I’m dyeing my natural denim from Near Sea Naturals that I’m making into jeans with Vogue Pattern V8774.  I’m taking Angela Wolf’s Sewing Designer Jeans class on Craftsy!  I made up my muslin (pics soon) and just need to dye the fabric now.

I’m also dyeing a pair of self drafted pajamas I made a few months ago.  I used a stitching technique with my sewing machine that I wanted to try out on the pj’s that were dyed previously with mint (not successful, made it a weird yellow) and over-dyed with coffee.  I also used a shibori folding technique on my organic reversible dyed skirt and secured it with rubber bands.  I’m going to dip dye a Boden white skirt I got a few years ago as well that I don’t wear very often, hoping to make it more flattering by making the waist darker fading to lighter at the bottom.

Just waiting now for the dye bath to bloom!  Updates to follow soon.