I experimented with my first fresh indigo dye last weekend—please see photos below. Fresh Indigo creates a turquoise blue on silk. It can also be used with wool and creates more of a slate blue, but I just experimented with some used silk fabrics that I found at the thrift store.

So to start, I scoured the fibers with synthrapol soap. Then I let them soak in water for several hours. You do not have to add a mordant to the silks before using indigo, but I soaked two of the four pieces in aluminum sulfate and it seemed to create a greenier toned blue but I didn’t notice it a ton. I might need to play around with that. Next step, was harvesting the leaves. You have to harvest the indigo leaves in the early morning, before the sun hits the plant. The leaves will not release pigment if they are too hot, so I also sprayed them with cold water that had been in the fridge right after I picked them to keep them cool. I then removed the leaves from the stems, added them to a blender with a cup or so of distilled water that had been in the fridge, and blended the mixture into a pesto. I then added the pesto mixture to a large stainless steel pot and added more distilled water to create a large dye bath. You want the leaves to equal about half the weight of fibers you are dying, so I measured both the fibers and the leaves beforehand. I then added the fibers to the dye pot and stirred them around for 3 minutes and then took them out for three minutes to oxidize (I’m not sure the oxidization is necessary for fresh indigo—I read mixed reviews online) and then I re-added them to the dye pot and repeated this step several times. The color shifted after each dip from a pale neon green to a turquoise blue. I probably repeated this about five times for each piece. At the end, I washed them again with the synthrapol soap and then let them dry.

In terms of them turning darker blue or purple—I wonder if certain mordants like iron would shift the dye purple. I did read one blog online that mentioned they were able to get a dark blue from the dye pot by using a heavier weight of leaves and leaving the fiber in for an extended period of time. I may try this next time. I still have a lot of leaves left and they grow back after harvesting them if the weather cooperates.

I am also now eager to try an indigo vat again. I made an indigo vat about five years ago and remember it being messy but so rewarding!