Indigo magic: watch kikko shibori and a fruit indigo vat in action!

Описание: In this video, I share how I check my fruit indigo vat for good reduction, dip and oxidize a test strip, fold a kikko shibori cotton bandana, and dye it in the fruit vat. Here are more details from my blog post on this topic on www.sophywong.org:

1. I fold a 24”x24” cotton bandana into equilateral triangles and bind it with chopsticks and rubber bands, my new favorite kikko pattern. This creates a lovely series of hexagons, which I think looks even more like a turtle shell.

2. I then wet out the folded and bound piece in water, squeeze out the excess water, and gently dip it into the fruit indigo vat.

3. I “massage” the dye into all the folds and crevices of the piece so all the exposed parts can get some indigo dye. This is a technique I learned at the Zhuo Ye Cottage (卓也小屋) in Nanzhuang, Taiwan, near where my family is from. After I finish massaging for about 2 minutes, I let the piece float in the vat for 3-5 minutes, then repeat the massaging. It’s time consuming, and you don’t have to massage, but I find that my pieces look so much darker and bolder when I do.

4. After 10-15 minutes in the vat and 2 rounds of massaging, I gently take out the piece, squeezing the piece near the surface of the vat to avoid splashing and introducing oxygen. I then allow the piece to oxidize on the counter for at least 30 minutes, and sometimes overnight. If there’s a lot of debris on the piece, I’ll do a quick rinse in cold water, which speeds up the oxidation process too.

5. I repeat the dip steps 3 and 4 above two more times. I find that on a medium to strong indigo vat, I can get dark, color-fast blues with 3 dips that are 10-15 minutes each.

6. After the final dip and oxidation, I take off the rubber band and chopsticks for the big reveal! This is the best part. No matter how many times I’ve done this, it is always super fun.