Indigo Dyeing

At spin group this weekend, Juliblue got out her indigo dye kit and set every thing up in the front yard.  It was a beautiful day with sun and our usual San Diego weather.


I have a pair of jeans that I purchased a number of years ago and it was not really dark blue to begin with, but it has since lightened up significantly due to normal wash and wear.

The first step is to soak it thoroughly (for maybe an hour).

We then squeezed out the excess water and slowly lowered it into the dye vat.

The pants sat in the bath for about an hour and then we pulled them out and hung them up for a while.  It was cool to see the jeans come out of the bath as a green shade and then slowly turn blue.

Juliblue then put it in the dye bath a second time and after another 30 minutes or so, pulled it out and laid them on some plastic on the lawn.  We also dyed a pair her husband's jeans so both came out of two soakings about the same color.


In the washer they went by themselves where they were rinsed and spun.


After a regular wash and dry cycle, here are the results.

The jeans are a bit darker and it is really noticeable where the fabric has worn as those spots are still white.