Dyeing with Indigo: Easy Techniques with an Ancient Dye Video Download

Indigo is one of the oldest dyes known to humans. It spans cultures and continents and was once the most popular dye on the planet, from traditional textiles to today’s fashion yarns, fabrics, and garments. For centuries, indigo dyeing required complex processes, multiple dye baths, and weeks or months of tending a vat. In this video, dyer and artist Elizabeth McTear teaches how to work with new, easy-to-use natural indigo to bring its romance and beauty to your own textile creations.

In this video, you’ll learn:

• How to set up 2 types of indigo vats and manage them to ensure successful results
• How to prepare fabric for dyeing
• How to control the dye process
• Oxidation, the final part of the dye process
• Safety tips for dyeing and for disposing of a finished dye vat

Through the centuries, indigo has led explorers on voyages of discovery. With Beth’s enthusiastic instruction, you’ll soon be launched on your own indigo-inspired adventures.

Bio: Elizabeth McTear is an artist and dyer who works primarily with natural and eco-friendly dyes. While earning her BFA at Moore College of Art and Design, Elizabeth learned about global textile traditions, including Mali tribal designs, Japanese traditions, and Scandinavian design—all points of reference in her work today. She teaches shibori and natural dyeing classes around the United States and runs her textile and dye company, Honest Alchemy (www.honestalchemy.co), from her home in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.