Textile Study Group: The Colors of Indigo

The Colors of Indigo!

Who would guess that one plant can produce the primary colors? Japanese indigo has the precursors for blue and red, plus a little known yellow. The blue and red do not require a mordant, but by using a mordant for the yellow in conjunction with time, temperature, and another chemical, the primaries and secondaries can be obtained from the fresh leaves of this plant.

Eileen Hallman has been growing and researching fresh leaf, non-vat Japanese indigo techniques since 2006. A downloadable recipe booklet is available on her website, https://charkha.biz/product-category/dyeing/