Indigo Kit and Dyeing Large Items

Q: I bought your Indigo & Shibori Natural Dye Kit. Would it work to dye a blanket or other large item?

A: The kit certainly has the ability to dye large items, but it is designed for creating repeat patterns on smaller (or bundled) pieces of fabric by folding the pieces into smaller shapes and dipping those as opposed to over-dyeing large pieces. All-over dyed pieces will tend to be mottled and uneven in the color uptake when dyed in a relatively small amount of liquid like the 5 gallons the kit is designed to produce. When dyeing large items I prefer to dye in vats that are 25-50 gallons and typically larger indigo-dyed items with all-over coverage (like jeans) are dyed in the yarn and then woven. Large items are rarely dyed in natural indigo vats because of the challenge.