There are probably as much recipes for indigo vats as there are for German potato salad, and its an art in itself to get a successful indigo vat going, the same applies to a good German potato salad. This time I started a vat with indigo powder (obviously), fructose and lime (calx).

The bronze surface appeared on the liquid, but only a few little blue bubbles (also called flower). I did a test to see if it worked.

after 2 dips, I did a little resist with a marble

take the marble out

voila, rinsed and dried

Next I dyed a white nuno felted scarf. I love the texture against the sun and the shade of blue. I find quite successful although I may dip it another couple of times to see if I can get deeper shades of blue.

 

 

There is such a large variety of eucalyptus species and every eco print with those leaves will give different results, depending on the time of picking the leaves, the region, and the kind of water to simmer the bundles in. There is already so much written about it and I am not a scientist understanding the chemical side of eco printing, so I just did a little test with the same leaves dyed in the same pot, the same lengths of time, the same fabric (merino knit) . The only difference is that I soaked one fabric in iron water  over night, the other not.

This is the fabric not soaked.

This is the fabric soaked.

Which do you like better?