October 18, 2012

Indigo Moons

My friend Ingrid wants to know how I make indigo moons. Indigo moons are fun to make when you have the right tools such as indigo vat or eco dye bath, clamps and rubber/plastic round disks. I used quite a few different fabrics for indigo moon depending on what I have on hand at the time. The loose weave fabric wouldn't give nice clear edge. Silk always gives you clean shape edges, but I like to smudge my edges to give them an eclipse look. You can do that by moving the disks over a bit after a couple of dips then re dipping it again a couple of more times (this technique only works with indigo dye). 


Here are three moons from three different fabrics. In the front is cotton with an eclipse look. On the top left is noire silk, and on the top right is kimono silk.


I dyed multiple moons at the same time by cutting the strips 5-6" wide and fan folding the strips into square shapes. I placed the disks on both sides of the folded fabric. I secured the disks tightly using clamps.

 
I use lightweight clamps which can be found in any hardware store. The clamps have to fit in the saucepan so get smaller ones.


I prepared this one when I did the eco-dyed bath the other day just to show you. I was using noire silk this time because it was convenient to find. 


You noticed I had to turn the clamps so they would fit in my saucepan. The dyed bath was leftover from a eucalyptus bath I did in a previous batch.


I boiled the folded fabric about an hour, waited until it cooled down, and then took a peek at the result.


The result is quite good. The moon on a dark night! The noire silk has quite a loose weave so the dye seeped in at the edges. The result is not a full moon, but I like the effect.


Here is the whole piece before I cut it apart. I can make up to 8 or more moons at the same time. Some of these will travel to the Netherlands next time I send a parcel there!

I add an indigo moon on most of my stitching projects. I also give them away as gifts. I think that is how Ingrid saw them and wanted to know how I make them. So, Ingrid this is a lesson for you.

Until next time
Nat



14 comments:

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

Wow Nat this is very interesting and it looks beautiful too!

deanna7trees said...

great explanation. i made some moons just a couple of weeks ago with some RIT dye i had left over from years ago. i also have a couple of your wonderful moons that you sent me some time ago. i think everyone will now be making moons.

Yvette said...

resists ..there are as many as you can think of...great blue moons...

Nedra said...

And thanks for sharing with the rest of us. The process looks quite involved. Lucky recipient of your gifts.

Terry said...

Nice tutorial on the moons. I like seeing other peoples processes.
How did the scrunched up piece come out?tom

Anonymous said...

yes, size of clamp matters! I'm still struggling with this, but was focusing on grip of clamp, and not on weave of fabric at all... so thanks. I like the black-ish ones quite a bit.

Lis Harwood said...

I love your moons, I didn't realise you are able to do several at one time by folding the fabric, lovely tutorial.

ria vogelzang said...

I just love your indigo moons! Great to see them hanging out to dry. :)
Love, Ria.

rivergardenstudio said...

I just have to say that your Indigo moons are lovely, and that I hope you put one in the book you are working on in our workshop!! Thanks for showing us how these are created...
roxanne

Simone de Klerk said...

Very interesting. And I am stunned by how differently the fabrics react to the same procedure. A wonderful moon colection, Nat!

Peggy said...

Hi Nat, this is a wonderful -- so many moons, each unique! I'll reference this in the future, as I do with many of your dyeing posts. xo

Sand and Sunshine said...

That's so neat. At first I thought disks? But then I saw your clamps and knew were you were headed. No wonder your friend wanted to know how, they are very striking.

Adriana Orozco said...

Thank you so much for such an easy to follow explanatión!

Adriana Orozco said...

Thank you so much for such an easy to follow explanatión!

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