I was so happy that I successfully grew a small butch of indigo plants in my tiny yard this year. This was third time that I attempted. Indigo required a lot of water. I asked my friends to be indigo sitters while I was traveling in Japan in May. When I came home, I kept making sure to water them every other days.

 

 

In mid Sep. I decided to dye with the flesh leaves. I picked leaves which were three times the weight of the silk scarf I was going to dye.

 

 

 

 

The scarf was about 20 grams and the leaves were 60-70 grams. I put them in the blender with 700 ml room temperature water and mix them for a minute.

 

 

 

 

 

It came out just like foamy mattcha tea. Looked so delicious! I used a laundry net to drain the dye water into a bowl and put a silk scarf gently into the bowl.

 

 

 

 

 

I was mixing the scarf by hands in the bowl so it would dyed evenly. My hands got dyed, too. lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two minutes later…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five minutes, ten minutes and fifteen minutes passed…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rinsing the scarf changing water three or four times in a sink, the color remained and appeared brightly.

 

 

 

The color had changed so dramatically in front of my eyes that I was touched deeply by the magic of Indigo nature. I am sincerely grateful for all the science and crafts that people had discovered to pass on generations.

I will plan to plant more seeds next year to share this experience with all the studio members! Indigo rocks!!!