In spring 2014, we began the Hitotsuya Textile Farm in one corner of a community vegetable garden run by local residents. The small plot was devoted entirely to plants connected with natural dyeing.
Growing a plant, turning it into a dye, colouring cloth and finally making a garment from that cloth form one continuous process. This article looks back at the work that began with Japanese indigo.
Growing Japanese indigo from seed
▼ The first crop we planted: Japanese indigo
The first plant we grew on the farm was Japanese indigo (Persicaria tinctoria), the traditional source of blue used in Japanese indigo dyeing.
Different plants have been used as sources of indigo in different regions. The official Tokushima Prefecture page About indigo introduces Japanese indigo and the history and culture of indigo production in Tokushima, a region long associated with the craft.
▼ Japanese indigo growing under the summer sun
The plants started in spring grew considerably larger under the strong summer sun.
Making dye from the indigo we grew
▼ Making precipitated indigo from the harvested leaves
Once the plants were ready, we harvested them and made our own indigo colourant.
The leaves are soaked and fermented in water. Slaked lime is then added, and the liquid is stirred to introduce air and cause the blue pigment to settle. The process is explained in our Japanese-language article How to make precipitated indigo, indigo paste and dried indigo cakes.
Dyeing cloth with our own indigo
▼ Dyeing with indigo colourant made by hand
We used the dye made from our own plants to colour cloth.
This was different from buying a prepared dye and following a manufacturer’s recommended method. We had watched the plants grow, harvested them, made the dye and then worked with the colour while observing its changing condition.
Turning the dyed cloth into a garment
▼ A garment made from cloth dyed with our own indigo
Finally, we used the dyed cloth to make a garment.
Dyeing with a colour we grew ourselves
To be honest, the result was not yet the indigo blue we had imagined or the kind of colour obtained with a commercially prepared indigo dye.
Even so, growing the indigo, making the dye, colouring the cloth, sewing it and turning it into clothing gave us a strong sense that we had moved closer to the kind of making we had been seeking.
The condition of the plants affects the dye, and the colour is not identical every time. Yet even the uncertainty is part of the experience. A colour raised from plants we have tended ourselves carries a different sense of connection from a ready-made dye.
To grow a colour, dye it with our own hands, sew the cloth and wear what it becomes—this is the true joy of making.
From here, we want to research more and more—much more—and keep developing colours and ways of making that are genuinely our own.