A Dye Day
Yesterday was a Dye Day here at the ENTWINEMENTS studio. This is a day when we dye things for us instead of you. We have several each year. We do a lot of T-shirts and cotton; these require different dyes that the silk we usually dye. The request was for indigo this time ( the other choice being fiber reactive dyes).
We keep an indigo pot all the time. When not using it it stays out on the patio; it is in a small plastic grabage can that has a lid. So Mon. I brought it inside to warm up and added some thiourea dioxide to reduce and some more indigo stock ( see this entry on how to make and run a indigo vat).
There were 4 of us dyeing, and administrative assistant, a production assistant, another artist and me. We did fold& clamp, stitched and bound shibori.
This is a cotton bandana all stitched and pulled up.
Here is our stuff airing to get the indigo to oxidize.
The shibori resists also are barriers to the air and it can take the indigo a long, long time to oxidize completely. When you pull it apart you can see the yellow/green of the un-oxidized indigo.
We are still oxidizing, washing the pieces but will share them soon.
