This is all about the day I grew a deeper appreciation for a skill I could share with my husband, about a mystical green leaf turning fabric blue. A day I too ended up having blue hands, but the best part the time spent together and our amazing personalised anniversary gift to each other. What am I talking about? All this blue fabric, blue hands, blue?! Well it is on the most fun dye workshop in Singapore.
No worries y'all, it was only indigo dye, one of the oldest natural dyes. And I chose not to wear gloves as I wanted to feel the fabric, a closer connection with the ancient craft. Thats all. PS. Gloves are provided for you to wear.
Hubby and I were looking for something different to do for our 4th anniversary. Not the same old same old dinner etcetera. Done that, maybe another year again. But what could we do together differently this year?
I never thought he would agree. But agree he did, and guess what, he enjoyed it.
So let’s start at the beginning.
4th-anniversary gift?
If you are familiar with the modern or traditional gift lists you would know that the fourth anniversary gift in linen on the traditional list.
*We have been following the traditional gift list for our anniversaries. The first year was paper, for which I received a ‘paper’ globe puzzle, so unusual, I love it. For our second year, the gift of cotton was beautiful Mungo South Africa waffle weave towels. The third was a gift from Raffles Hotel, a leather Raffles Hotel access card, not a genuine card (that would be awesome though) but a leather souvenir, as we had high tea served in one of their room overlooking the courtyard.
Okay, so what now? What to do for our 4th anniversary?
How about buying beautiful linen for our bedroom. Nah, Mmm, how about dyeing our own. Yes, that’s what we can do.
Eh, but where?
I started scrolling through my Instagram as I knew I was following someone who does fabulous shibori dye workshops right here in Singapore. And yes, there she is. Mmm, can we do a workshop with linen? Can it be just for the two of us? Well, it can go two ways, either no or yes. So, I contacted her, and it was, yes!
Awesomeness!
Indigo Dye workshop With Autumn in Singapore
Beginning of July, we arrived at a small studio in Chinatown on a mission to work together dyeing linen with natural indigo for each other as gifts. These dyed pieces of linen will then be turned into pillowcases for our bedroom.
With our taxi manoeuvring through the little alleyway, he dropped us off at an even narrower alley at the back of some shophouses, from here on foot to the studio. And so we arrived at With Autumn, a fibre arts & natural dye studio that offers various workshops and supplies in Singapore. Autumn, the owner, welcomed us with a lovely cup of locally produced Gryphon tea. Gosh, I love the Templetree Lotus flavour, so fresh!
Cup of tea at our side, we listened and looked at samples and an introduction to indigo dye.
Having some knowledge of natural dye as a textile enthusiast and educator, I have never used indigo before. Other dyes, be it flower dyes or avocado pits, you can prepare small amounts at home. Indigo dye, on the other hand, is a much more technical process. It is usually kept in vats and needs time to ferment. The dye is used repeatedly till the dye bath is exhausted. The first time I was actually exposed and witnessed the process was in Vietnam, Sapa. So this was my first hands-on experience. They also call indigo a living dye due to this fermentation process.
Also see > Discover the textiles in Sapa, Vietnam. from plant to Indigo dyed and embroidered dress.
Getting stuck into Indigo natural dye
First up, gloves on, ready to experiment with small samples to understand the method and process. The technique we used for this workshop is shibori 絞り染め, a Japanese resistance dye method that dates back to the 8th century. しぼり loosely translates as squeeze. Clamps, objects, ties and rope are all used to create various patterns. You can either have a very organised piece with calculated patterns, planned out with accurate folds, or be more adventurous and have multiple tie methods, resulting in a more random outcome. With our first folds and clamps in place, we headed over to the dye vats. Happy with the results and understanding the process better, we were ready for our larger pieces. And by this time, no more gloves for me. They just got in my way, I like to feel the fabric.
Onto the larger linen pieces, we go, trying to plan and plot out what to do, under the watchful eye of Autumn. She assisted with suggestions that helped us achieve the result we had in mind. Again, folding clamping, trying to imagine the results were a bit more challenging than anticipated. You have some idea, but not really either, haha, but that’s the magic about shibori. It is still a surprise after you removed all the clamps and opened them up.
It is rather challenging actually to imagine what it will look like when you are folding it all. With all her experience I am so glad Autumn guided us newbies, she has being doing it for some time so definitely have a better idea of the outcome. Thank you Autumn!
So after multiple dye baths and oxidation, we arrived at our desired depth of colours. Ya, it’s not just you placing it in the dye and removing and bam, you’re done. No, you need to dip it in, massage it a bit, give it a bit of fresh air, and repeat, haha. It is a process of love and care. But so worth it when you do your big reveal. Removing all the clamps and my hubby what seemed like a hundred elastics bands, our final shibori dyed masterpieces revealed themselves.
Rinse and time to hang up to take photos.
Tip: She suggests as well, wear gloves! Gosh, so much fun, but that blue stayed on my nails for a while. That’s what happens when you don’t want to wear gloves!
Also see > Learn Peranakan Beading with Straits Enclave
Our gifts
Absolutely love the ones my husband made for me. Somehow the ones I created were more organised, and the ones he made more random. But in fact, he is definitely the more organised one, so rather interesting how we made a piece perfect for the other. What do you think?
Other workshops
Autumn offers scarf shibori dye workshops, but have a look at the other workshops she offers too, from needle punch to woodblock printing.
Who can do it and how much does it cost?
‘With Autumn’ offers both adult and kids workshops.
Prices depend on the workshop and can be found on her site. And I just noticed, there is even an instalment plan to pay over 3 months. Awesome!
Now you might wonder what my husband thought about doing a dye workshop. Well he said he was not to sure what to expect, but ended up enjoyed it so much and would recommend doing it together as a couple.
There you have it.
Couples date idea, anyone?
What is indigo
The textile enthusiast in me feels I need to explain a bit what indigo is. I have known what it is and how the colour is derived, plus I was introduced to the whole process in Sapa. So let me give you some idea.
The magic of a green leaf turning blue. Indigo is the living dye.
Indigo dye is one of the oldest dye methods around. Some say it dates back to 5000 yrs and was used across India, Egypt, tropical zones of Asia, South America, and Africa. Blue is the most challenging colour to dye naturally. Think of it for a moment, in nature you find green, yellow, and reds all around, but blue?
Indigo dye is derived from various plants, specifically from the leaves of the Indigofera genus.
The dye process is rather complicated, as the blue dye is not derived naturally. On the contrary to other natural dyes, which are somewhat easier by only boiling for a set time, like I have done before with beans, onion skins, avocado and other; indigo is a rather complicated method involving various steps. Indigo has to be harvested, soaked, treated, then fermented in a particular way.
During the dye process, the fabric needs to be introduced to air to oxidise it after each dye bath and will only then turn from a yellowish/greenish colour to blue. Quite fascinating.
Interesting fact: Did you know indigo dye is not naturally blue?
It is a green colour and only turns blue when oxidised.
Flashback to Sapa when I looking into a dye vat and a little drop got onto my white top, this time round I wore a dark top.
Interesting fact: natural dyes have been in use for thousands of years. It is only over the past 150 years that synthetic dyes became the norm.
William Perkins, a British teenager (18) chemist, inadvertently found the formula for synthetic dye while he was attempting to find a cure for malaria in 1856. It was a purple colour. Wonder what his thoughts would be today, in the use of chemical dye and the environment.
What is shibori
This is a technique I always wanted to do.
Shibori 絞り染め has its origin in Japan, dating back to the 8th century. しぼり loosely translates as squeeze.
There are two methods: the first, as mentioned before, is calculated folds, the second is achieved with particular stitched patterns resulting in a detailed, intricate pattern. Within the folding technique, there are also a few methods. But the ones we used were the folding and clamping of objects called Itajime or shape-resist( probably the most popular technique). And the other was Ne-maki, the more ‘carefree’ technique of binding found objects onto the fabric. Resulting in more random patterns. These are only two of a few methods. Now in the picture below the fabric on the right might look like tie dye, but my husband actual used his hands a resistance, making it even that more precious to me.
Concluding on our date/workshop
Creating and crafting, I believe, is one of the best things that draw people closer together. It is a collective journey of learning, experimenting, supporting and encouraging each other. So if you are looking for something unique to do, look at a crafts workshop, never mind if one of you ain’t crafting, that is the joy of it, the one that is more crafting can support the other, and the other is stepping into their partners’ world. Why not stat with this fun dye workshop, right here in Singapore.
And saying all that, what a marvellous way we celebrated our 4th anniversary. Together whilst learning a new skill and producing awesome personalised home decor gifts.
Till the next workshop! Let us know if you joined and made your own shibori indigo dye with Autumn.
xxx
*Opinions expressed here are my own.
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