Indigo Dyeing in Tokushima

Wow, I'm so behind on my blogging that this entry is about something I did in June. terrible... So I've been interested in indigo dyeing since I first was an exchange student in Japan more than 4 years ago. At that time when I studied kasuri I used a product called "Indigo Pure" which apparently is easier to work with than natural indigo dye. Junko found and opportunity for us to try aizome (indigo dyeing) in Tokushima so I was very excited to learn about this process!

Unfortunately I don't have the name of the place on hand now but large quantities of the plant that indigo is derived from was grown near here and then harvested and fermented to get the dye. The sculpture above is to commemorate this in the yard between the old house and the studio. I guess this place is famous since the current emperor went there with his family to try out indigo dyeing.

Junko and I went with another classmate and friend, Mayumi.

These are samples of dyeing that were in the studio. The first of a rabbit print. This is done by screening a dye-resist paste on the fabric in the areas you wish to remain white, before dyeing. Next is resist dye shodo (Japanese calligraphy) that are used as sort of mini curtains that are in many doorways in Japan. Third is a sample of the gradient you can get by exposing the fabric to the ink at 2-minute intervals.

This is the dye bath! It was really beautiful! You know the indigo is ready when the bath create the bubble mass shown above, called the indigo "flower".

This is our lovely work! We all did shibori (best described as "tie-dyeing) since we weren't allowed to do the paste resist that day. I haven't really used mine for anything but Junko dyed a lot of yardage so she had it made into a dress.

Me (sweltering in the horrible Shikoku summer heat) and Mayumi looking quite comfortable. Really cute couple of families doing indigo together. If I had kids I'd want to do this with them...

There was a really old home next to the studio. I don't really understand who used to live there but I'll check on it later... I loved the combination of wallpapers and the beautiful lighting through the paper screens

More from the home...

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