No Natural Dye Experience Necessary. This is an introduction and we’ll cover material from the ground up! Creating graphic designs using indigo dye is notoriously challenging. I’ll be drawing from my experiences, successes AND failures to demystify the process and make it as approachable as possible.
At Natural Dyes, 604 N. Occidental Boulevard LA, CA 90026
Saturday, January 18 and Sunday January 19, 2025 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Pack a lunch or plan to grab a bagel from Maury’s next door. Meal break from 12:15-1:00 ish
Limit 6 Attendees
RESIST : Indigo only dyes what it can touch! In this workshop students will learn to create a resist paste from rice flour. This paste will be applied onto fabric by brush, stencil and screen. Wherever the paste is applied, the fabric will remain un-dyed while the rest of the piece absorbs color.
DISCHARGE : Indigo can be selectively dissolved my the strong oxidizer Potassium Permanganate. We will learn how to prepare the solution to dissolve the indigo and apply it to the textile using brushes. Screen printing with the medium will be demonstrated but we don’t have time to execute it individually.
Students will explore layering prints to create different tones of blue and will practice the challenging and subtle techniques of dipping printed pieces and maintaining the health of an indigo vat.
SATURDAY
• Discuss fundamental concepts of an indigo vat and mix up a reduction vat. Dipping etiquette, tools and supplies
• Making Resist paste and cutting VERY simple stencils.
• Coating print boards and stretching fabrics
• Developing different tones of indigo on the piece by dipping multiple times and in different strength vats.
• Demonstration of making Shinshi as will more intricate stencils than we are able to accomplish in our limited time together.
• Dyeing and preparing fabric to receive discharge medium tomorrow
SUNDAY
• Applying discharge to fabrics using a variety of methods - brush, block and screen print.
• Removing deposited manganese from fabrics using lemon juice
• Rudimentary layering resist on fabric to create multiple tones of blue on the same fabric.
• Treatment of fabric to provide UV and wash-fastness protection for the indigo
• Sharing of resources for further exploration