Aug 3, 2010

I’ve been dyeing to tell you!

Mid-week of Kaari Meng’s French General Chateau Getaway was “woad” dyeing day. So just what is woad? Woad is a hardy plant native to northern Europe and the British Isles. The leaves are crushed and left to ferment for a precise amount of time, and stepped through some other natural chemical changes. This all yields a luscious blue dye worthy of royalty. Traditionally this production process took up to one and a half years to complete. The production of woad ceased around 1880 as indigo blue became more accessible, easier to produce and thus more cost efficient and popular.

However, in the mid 1990s the late Henri Lambert and his wife Denise of the Gascony region of France began to seek out the lost natural process of woad dyeing resulting in this most beautiful shade of blue (which, by the way is now permanently on Denise’s hands and Henri’s custom-painted Jaguar!). The Lamberts are integrating the ancient history and production of woad into contemporary history. It has taken Denise five years to discover and perfect the old techniques used to make woad, as the process was never written down but only shared as an oral tradition. The sunlight in the Gascony region of France near Toulouse is perfect for growing woad that produces this beautiful blue. It’s the local light that develops the intensity and clarity of the dye’s color. Woad renders fabric “noble,” as Denise said, and the exact color depends on each individual piece of cloth and the way it accepts the woad.

Denise came to the Chateau with a “mother” vat and mixed two different large vats — one would produce lighter values of woad blue and one darker values of woad blue. She set up in an open area of land surrounded by trees perfect for hanging our dyed pieces to dry. Each garment needed to be dipped twice. The intensity or value of the blue is not based on the length of time the fabric is left in the dye bath as is common with other dyes, but it is based on the number of times the garment or piece is dipped. After the final dipping the fabric is rinsed and hung to dry. Now the magical part: Denise showed us how to carefully place the fabrics into the dye bath and how to remove all air bubbles. We left it for just a few minutes and then upon removing our previously white items, they appeared from the bath a bright yellow, then rapidly turned green, more green, blue-green and finally upon full exposure to oxygen, the alchemy was complete and each item turned its own magical color of woad blue!

It was fascinating and we all had the best time! As I mentioned in a previous post, it was so fun, when we had dyed the things we had planned to dye, some of us (including me) ran to gather more items from our suitcase. I had brought and dyed a 100 percent white linen blouse (which I intended to dye), that turned out beautifully. Then also contributed two white Chicos t-shirts and added them to the dye bath. These came out okay, but I had forgotten these are about 95 cotton and 5 percent spandex, so naturally they have sort of a heathered look. Everyone got in on the act, even our cute server, Corey, and the grounds keeper, Ollie, who tossed in the shorts he was wearing! I’ll always remember this day as I wear my linen blouse and — I left wanting to dye something here at home!

As my jet-lag waned, it was time to start the next issue of American Quilt Retailer. Becky and I went to our favorite antique mall scratching for a few props for the next cover. After antiquing so much in France, do you think I could stop cold turkey? In the first booth at the entrance to the mall is a woman who sells carefully selected used clothing. She has a good eye for unique and unusual, yet wearable items. There was this great-looking skirt (not for the cover , I can be easily distracted!) — it was cute and it fit. However, the color was this boring beige, sort of flesh-colored — yuck! Then the light bulb went off! It was 100 percent cotton and I could dye it! The woman obviously questioned our sanity (notice I lumped dear Becky in here) at taking a $200 unused garment (it still had the price on it!), paying $18 for it, only to risk its beauty by dyeing it. Oh well, I decided it was worth investing the $18. (And we did find the props for the next cover, too — but you have to wait to see these!)

I bought and referred to C&T Publishing’s new Fabric Dyer’s Dictionary by Linda Johansen for some direction on using Jacquard Procion MX Dyes (unfortunately, there is no woad in my yard!). I gathered more general vat dyeing information at the Dharma Trading Company’s website and then stopped at Asel Art Supply which I knew carried a lot of fabric dyeing supplies. Then, after a fast trip to Big Lots dollar store for some cheap, large buckets and I was off dyeing. (Even the $2 buckets are pretty!)

This wasn’t quite as fun as dyeing in France, but it was pretty darn near as fun, and I now I want to dye some more (once a textile fanatic always a textile fanatic). There is something so subtly soft about the color of hand-dyed fabric whether cotton, linen, wool, or yarn, or even roving (like for felting). And, look at my skirt — I love it, and will wear it later this month on a trip to Santa Fe (yes, this is a great summer for me — France and Santa Fe!).

You might not be able to experience dyeing with Denise Lambert at Chateau Dumas in Southern France (although, maybe you can!), but you can easily experiment a bit, and then teach your customers the joys of hand-dying. The Fabric Dyer’s Dictionary gives detailed directions on how to dye small pieces of fabric in zip-lock bags. Everyone in the class could do a dozen pieces of one color and then trade with each other. Check your favorite wholesale distributers for all the supplies. And, happy dyeing to you! Susan