Hey friends I hope you enjoy this video and find it helpful. It's a little longer than usual, let us know what you think and as always keep sending your video suggestions this way !
I love watching you work! (and your home is just gorgeous) I have a used white cotton t shirt that I've been hanging on to - I wonder if the leaf massaging technique would work with that? I won't expect a dark or vibrant colour, but even something pale would be fun to make! I would love to make green dyes - apparently yarrow can make a pale olive green!
I could just listen to you for hours. You're informative and you're not screaming at the screen like some RUclipsrs. If you ever narrate anything like a book, I'll buy it. Whatever the subject lol. I'm passing your videos on to my friends :)
I'm indigenous and have been learning making fish skin leather I would love to dye some of the skins blue. I have a background in natural dyes but was a long time ago. You have inspired me back , I remember gathering the neighbors marriegolds and onion skins haha.
I'm so obsessed with your videos, they've seriously been so inspiring to me on my natural dye journey! I'm a new fashion design grad & learned a bittt about indigo + natural dyeing in a textiles class, and experimented with powdered indigo, but a different route using thiourea dioxide & sodium carbonate, but I looove these extraction methods! it's so much more playful, and I love that you broke down all the steps for each one, I definitely need to get a dye garden going. & also the whole aesthetic of your vids is super inspiring. such beautiful work, thanks for sharing/educating ! 💚💚
Very interesting! Thank you for sharing. I had tryed salt rubbing but learned a lot about the red pigment and the fructose vat. You give us the guts of trying 🤗
Thank you for all the intutive incitement. I initially tried a reduction with sweet potato and orange peel - If you ever come to terms with quantityor a trick to measure the fructose, from boiling. I'd love to know.
I am finally commenting, have to say I love love love your overalls and esp. those you wore in this video. I am anxiously awaiting your pattern release (I hope this is still in the works?). Woad is really easy to grow and Lady's Bedstraw is a weed (same family as Madder but less potent colour) I have followed Jenny Dean's method of freezing woad and got beautiful aquas but maybe I will grow indigo next year. Your videos are beautiful and so are you and Billy, lovely warm gentle and real atmosphere. You are such a genuine person, I really appreciate this. Thank you for sharing.
And thank you so much for your lovely comment! Yes the patterns ARE in the works 😅 something that should have taken me a few days has basically taken me nearly two years 🤦🏽♀️ 🤦🏽♀️ thanks for your continued patience 💕💕💕
@@billynou You have accomplished so much and while being a loving attentive mum, I think you’re doing pretty fantastic. Also, producing a multi-size sewing pattern is not what I’d see taking a few days! I hope it all goes smoothly for you, thank you for the generous reply💕💕💕
@@billynou It's really easy. You knead shredded cabbage with 2-3% its weight in salt until it goes floppy and gives up a lot of juice. Then you pack it into jars with weights on top so all the cabbage is submerged in juice. Then you let it ferment at room temperature as long as you want. It bubbles for the first week or so, and then keeps fermenting without bubbles. Some people incorporate spices or other small pieces of vegetables (e.g., shredded carrots) into the shredded cabbage before starting. 2-3% salt is about the level where most people start to worry the cabbage is oversalted, so you can do it by taste if you're willing to tolerate a bit of risk. Also, there's special glass/ceramic fermentation weights you can get, or you can use a ziplock bag of 3% saltwater, or a clean rock that won't break up in water, or lots of other options. And the bubbles from fermentation can expel some of the cabbage juice from the jars, so keep a plate or dish under them until that stops.
Thank you for the Indigo dying lesson. I will try it. I’d also like to say that I love your personal “style”. Where do get your relaxed overalls and also your silver bangles?...they’re simply beautiful. You wear them well.
You’re so welcome! I make most of the things I’m wearing in my videos.. you can check out our website billynou.com to have a look... and the silver bangles were a gift from my mother in law 🥰🥰
Hello… so yes, in a way…. It really depends on how well you’ve prepared the fiber, what fiber you’ve used and what kind of indigo… can all have an effect but yes it’s normal for some colour to part after being dyed. In general though indigo has a very good colour fastness 😊
So I have a red dress, made by cotton. But I don't like the color. Do you have any suggestion how to make it any better? Like I want to spray it with black color randomly but I don't know how to do that😢
You could definitely try over dying it with something like Indigo and maybe try a tie dye technique for pattern…. I quite like the “scrunch up the fabric randomly “ technique ☺️
I was wondering how much direct light would you say your indigo plants get in a day? I want to plant some but the spot I have in mind gets about 4 ish hours of direct sun
Hmm the ones outside maybe 3 hours and the ones on my window sill a lot less ... I think 4 hours is plenty although I’m not 100% on the technicalities of growing ... you can usually see if they’re struggling or thriving 💙🌱
Minimalist...that it is what I like with your approach, though , I would have this question (maybe you explain further?), How long do you soak in soy milk before, and why soy milk?The dye bites better with it?Preparing with vinegar would it do it too?
Hey... you can check out our soy milk video for a bit more info but basically the proteins in the milks offer the colours something to bind to. Vinegar won’t have the same effect. I tend to soak for about 24 hours stirring regularly ☺️
Thank you! I get a lot of fibers from all over the place. I get a lot of vintage fabric from locals here in France and some new fibers from some a Uk based company called organic textiles company . Hope that helps!
Can you put multiple colors in one dye bath? Like indigo leaves and turmeric. That would probably not work but I can’t think of any other example. But I hope you get what I mean..
Yes you could... but you might just end up with not a very impressive colour ( although I’ve never tried so it might be worth experimenting) if you’re thinking of trying to get green for example you could overdye indigo with a yellow dye... you can over dye lots of colours to get different shades etc 😊
@@billynou thank you so much for responding! That’s so nice! I really enjoy your videos, they really inspired me to try dyeing fabric myself and it’s been really fun so far
Why do you let the samples sit for a day after you take them out of the dye before washing them more thoroughly? Does this allow more of the color to stick?
You just need a living pot to plant in. Super easy - sticks, your veggie leftovers and the remains of the indigo you're using in the bottom - to about half - then top off with potting soil and plant in that. You want living soil - soil with things the good microbes, worms and insects can eat and live and party in. You don't want spent soil or "finished" compost - both of which are barren. What you want is a party of life and living beings, right in the pot, and with which the plant roots can play and explore and interact. Plants need interaction. Not the boohoo, "ooh, aww" interaction of petty humans but, rather, the natural, "life is for playing, exploring and actual living" interaction with microbes, worms and all the other good guys that consume the "bad" guys and provide the nutrients and enzymes the plant needs just by being. Just by playing and living life. You'll have indigo coming out your ears!
I think it’s normally blue pigment that has been extracted from the plant. You can’t do this method with the powder though, you’d have to make a vat which is a little more complicated.... check out @seaspellfiber on Instagram, she is an excellent indigo source and has a beautiful online course available 💙
I’d be more inclined to make a dye bath with the leaves from an avocado tree. This works with indigo because of the unique properties of indigo enabling it to bind to the fibers .... 😊
Yes.... from liz.... @thedogwooddyer on Instagram. I’m not sure if she has any left this year but you could also try George @bailiwickblue ... I also got some seeds from there this year too .... it’s also depends where you are though as I know George doesn’t post to America. 💙🌱
Hi billy, I’ve been trialing out indigo dyeing at home with powdered indigo. If sadly had an issue with the mixture. As I was stirring the vat the water went from a dark blue to a complete cloudy white. Would you know by any chance why this happened ?
Hmm honestly no I don’t know why this might have happened! I’m not an indigo expert but you could head over to indigo pigment extraction methods face book group ... there is lots of info there 💙
How did the fibers turn out? Did the color stay after washing? Thrilled to see this fructose vat method. I’ve been looking at how to make vats and haven’t been loving the chemicals involved for deoygenating the vat. So neat that fructose can be used
the color balance/lighting on this video is so strange i cant even make out the color in certain sections, its beautiful for film making but actually kind of ineffective in a video about color dyes... Esp the section about extracting red after blue
Hey friends I hope you enjoy this video and find it helpful. It's a little longer than usual, let us know what you think and as always keep sending your video suggestions this way !
I love watching you work! (and your home is just gorgeous) I have a used white cotton t shirt that I've been hanging on to - I wonder if the leaf massaging technique would work with that? I won't expect a dark or vibrant colour, but even something pale would be fun to make!
I would love to make green dyes - apparently yarrow can make a pale olive green!
what plant is this exactly?
I could just listen to you for hours. You're informative and you're not screaming at the screen like some RUclipsrs. If you ever narrate anything like a book, I'll buy it. Whatever the subject lol. I'm passing your videos on to my friends :)
I'm indigenous and have been learning making fish skin leather I would love to dye some of the skins blue. I have a background in natural dyes but was a long time ago. You have inspired me back , I remember gathering the neighbors marriegolds and onion skins haha.
Well what an honour to inspire you back! Welcome back to the world of natural dyes …. 💙💙
I love these types of videos and your efficient breakdown of the different methods to dye! Thank you for such great content. It’s so inspiring!
You’re welcome... thanks for watching!!
That was great. I learned a lot. Thanks for being so candid and letting us in on your processes. Very valuable.
You’re welcome 💛❤️🤍
I'm so obsessed with your videos, they've seriously been so inspiring to me on my natural dye journey! I'm a new fashion design grad & learned a bittt about indigo + natural dyeing in a textiles class, and experimented with powdered indigo, but a different route using thiourea dioxide & sodium carbonate, but I looove these extraction methods! it's so much more playful, and I love that you broke down all the steps for each one, I definitely need to get a dye garden going. & also the whole aesthetic of your vids is super inspiring. such beautiful work, thanks for sharing/educating ! 💚💚
Thank you so much! Yes I did my first indigo cats with those chemicals but I much prefer to avoid them! 💙💙
Very interesting! Thank you for sharing. I had tryed salt rubbing but learned a lot about the red pigment and the fructose vat. You give us the guts of trying 🤗
Yay I hope you enjoy
Wonderful videos! Looks like you have an amazing lifestyle! Inspiring!
Thanks 💙
All I know is to add lime until pH is 11, not less. Great video for fresh leaves as I am starting to grow my own this year!
Thank you 🙏🏽
So exciting that you’re growing some this year! Good luck ✨
Thank you for all the intutive incitement. I initially tried a reduction with sweet potato and orange peel - If you ever come to terms with quantityor a trick to measure the fructose, from boiling. I'd love to know.
I am finally commenting, have to say I love love love your overalls and esp. those you wore in this video. I am anxiously awaiting your pattern release (I hope this is still in the works?). Woad is really easy to grow and Lady's Bedstraw is a weed (same family as Madder but less potent colour) I have followed Jenny Dean's method of freezing woad and got beautiful aquas but maybe I will grow indigo next year. Your videos are beautiful and so are you and Billy, lovely warm gentle and real atmosphere. You are such a genuine person, I really appreciate this. Thank you for sharing.
And thank you so much for your lovely comment! Yes the patterns ARE in the works 😅 something that should have taken me a few days has basically taken me nearly two years 🤦🏽♀️ 🤦🏽♀️ thanks for your continued patience 💕💕💕
@@billynou You have accomplished so much and while being a loving attentive mum, I think you’re doing pretty fantastic. Also, producing a multi-size sewing pattern is not what I’d see taking a few days! I hope it all goes smoothly for you, thank you for the generous reply💕💕💕
Thanks a lot vert helpfull❤
💙
Sooo beautiful!! I need to grow some indigo!! Love it!
Do it ! You won’t retreat it
Regret
That massaging leaves with salt thing reminds me of how sauerkraut is made.
I’ve never made sauerkraut but now I want to!!
@@billynou It's really easy. You knead shredded cabbage with 2-3% its weight in salt until it goes floppy and gives up a lot of juice. Then you pack it into jars with weights on top so all the cabbage is submerged in juice. Then you let it ferment at room temperature as long as you want. It bubbles for the first week or so, and then keeps fermenting without bubbles. Some people incorporate spices or other small pieces of vegetables (e.g., shredded carrots) into the shredded cabbage before starting.
2-3% salt is about the level where most people start to worry the cabbage is oversalted, so you can do it by taste if you're willing to tolerate a bit of risk. Also, there's special glass/ceramic fermentation weights you can get, or you can use a ziplock bag of 3% saltwater, or a clean rock that won't break up in water, or lots of other options. And the bubbles from fermentation can expel some of the cabbage juice from the jars, so keep a plate or dish under them until that stops.
Say hi to Billy...she was missed😉
Haha ... don’t worry she’ll be back 🦄🥰
Thank you for the Indigo dying lesson. I will try it. I’d also like to say that I love your personal “style”. Where do get your relaxed overalls and also your silver bangles?...they’re simply beautiful. You wear them well.
You’re so welcome! I make most of the things I’m wearing in my videos.. you can check out our website billynou.com to have a look... and the silver bangles were a gift from my mother in law 🥰🥰
Thanks for all the wonderful videos you make! I've heard that indigo dyed garments continue to bleed even if a fixative was used. Is that true?
Hello… so yes, in a way…. It really depends on how well you’ve prepared the fiber, what fiber you’ve used and what kind of indigo… can all have an effect but yes it’s normal for some colour to part after being dyed. In general though indigo has a very good colour fastness 😊
@@billynou Thanks!
So I have a red dress, made by cotton. But I don't like the color. Do you have any suggestion how to make it any better? Like I want to spray it with black color randomly but I don't know how to do that😢
You could definitely try over dying it with something like Indigo and maybe try a tie dye technique for pattern…. I quite like the “scrunch up the fabric randomly “ technique ☺️
please tell me how to pretreatment fabric.your house very nice sister
Indigo dye video addiction 😭😭😭😭can't stop.. Helpppppp
Thanks from Bangladesh
❤️
I was wondering how much direct light would you say your indigo plants get in a day? I want to plant some but the spot I have in mind gets about 4 ish hours of direct sun
Hmm the ones outside maybe 3 hours and the ones on my window sill a lot less ... I think 4 hours is plenty although I’m not 100% on the technicalities of growing ... you can usually see if they’re struggling or thriving 💙🌱
Minimalist...that it is what I like with your approach, though , I would have this question (maybe you explain further?), How long do you soak in soy milk before, and why soy milk?The dye bites better with it?Preparing with vinegar would it do it too?
Hey... you can check out our soy milk video for a bit more info but basically the proteins in the milks offer the colours something to bind to. Vinegar won’t have the same effect. I tend to soak for about 24 hours stirring regularly ☺️
For salt...would Epson salts work? I also have pink Himalaya salt
Erm I’m not sure about Epsom salt? I don’t see why not.... it’s to help draw the moisture out so I guess so... give it a go ☺️
iam srilanken lady.I like your works.please tell me how to pretreatment used soda ash and alam powder.thank you so much
Hello, love your videos! May I ask where do you get your fibers? :)
Thank you! I get a lot of fibers from all over the place. I get a lot of vintage fabric from locals here in France and some new fibers from some a Uk based company called organic textiles company . Hope that helps!
@@billynou thank you so much for answering
Can you put multiple colors in one dye bath? Like indigo leaves and turmeric. That would probably not work but I can’t think of any other example. But I hope you get what I mean..
Yes you could... but you might just end up with not a very impressive colour ( although I’ve never tried so it might be worth experimenting) if you’re thinking of trying to get green for example you could overdye indigo with a yellow dye... you can over dye lots of colours to get different shades etc 😊
@@billynou thank you so much for responding! That’s so nice! I really enjoy your videos, they really inspired me to try dyeing fabric myself and it’s been really fun so far
Hi,what specie of indigo plant you used? Thanks from Brazil
Japanese indigo 💙💙 (Persicaria tinctoria )
Why do you let the samples sit for a day after you take them out of the dye before washing them more thoroughly? Does this allow more of the color to stick?
Yes it just gives the colours a chance to settle into the fabric 😊
You just need a living pot to plant in. Super easy - sticks, your veggie leftovers and the remains of the indigo you're using in the bottom - to about half - then top off with potting soil and plant in that. You want living soil - soil with things the good microbes, worms and insects can eat and live and party in.
You don't want spent soil or "finished" compost - both of which are barren. What you want is a party of life and living beings, right in the pot, and with which the plant roots can play and explore and interact. Plants need interaction. Not the boohoo, "ooh, aww" interaction of petty humans but, rather, the natural, "life is for playing, exploring and actual living" interaction with microbes, worms and all the other good guys that consume the "bad" guys and provide the nutrients and enzymes the plant needs just by being. Just by playing and living life.
You'll have indigo coming out your ears!
Sorry what's the plant you were cultivating called?
It’s Japanese indigo 😊
Can you do the same with green indigo powder?
I’m not familiar with green indigo powder?
I believe it is simply indigo leaf powder.
I think it’s normally blue pigment that has been extracted from the plant. You can’t do this method with the powder though, you’d have to make a vat which is a little more complicated.... check out @seaspellfiber on Instagram, she is an excellent indigo source and has a beautiful online course available 💙
@@billynou thank you!
Could this be done with leaves from an avocado tree?
I’d be more inclined to make a dye bath with the leaves from an avocado tree. This works with indigo because of the unique properties of indigo enabling it to bind to the fibers .... 😊
I love your videos, so inspiring! May I ask you, where did you order the Indigo seeds from?
Yes.... from liz.... @thedogwooddyer on Instagram. I’m not sure if she has any left this year but you could also try George @bailiwickblue ... I also got some seeds from there this year too .... it’s also depends where you are though as I know George doesn’t post to America. 💙🌱
Hi billy, I’ve been trialing out indigo dyeing at home with powdered indigo. If sadly had an issue with the mixture. As I was stirring the vat the water went from a dark blue to a complete cloudy white. Would you know by any chance why this happened ?
Hmm honestly no I don’t know why this might have happened! I’m not an indigo expert but you could head over to indigo pigment extraction methods face book group ... there is lots of info there 💙
@@billynou thank you very much I’ll check it out :)
Can we dye silk naturally
Yes it works really well ☺️
Is this the same Indigo plant that repels bugs?
Don’t know about that I’m aftaid?
Do you know the latin name for this particular indigo plant? Is it Persicaria tinctoria?
Yes that’s it 😊
@@billynou thank you! I was telling a friend about your video so I wanted to make sure I had the right plant
Do you do anything to the fabric after the dying process to help retain the dye in the fabric to hold up longer?
I do sometime give them a dip in soy milk after.... like a soy milk sunscreen .... a tip I got from @seaspellfiber and it seems to help 🌱
please let me know the name of the indigo plant
It’s Japanese indigo. Persicaria tinctoria
How did the fibers turn out? Did the color stay after washing? Thrilled to see this fructose vat method. I’ve been looking at how to make vats and haven’t been loving the chemicals involved for deoygenating the vat. So neat that fructose can be used
They turned out really well! It’s important to use the soy milk in fresh method as it really helps the colour fastness 💙
is this japanese indigo or true indigo?
Japanese 😊
@@billynou tx, now i know how to not waste my one little plant. :) got one from the farmer's market, might get another next week if I have the cash.
the color balance/lighting on this video is so strange i cant even make out the color in certain sections, its beautiful for film making but actually kind of ineffective in a video about color dyes... Esp the section about extracting red after blue
Sorry you didn’t find this helpful Natty 😊