Indigo Dyeing Tutorial

Materials - 0:00
Mixing the Vat - 3:22
Creating Resist - 8:46
Testing the Reduction State - 17:10
Dyeing Fabric - 21:03
Achieving a Darker Shade of Blue - 27:35
Rinsing the Fabric - 34:05
Completed Fabric - 43:37

Follow along with this Pee Dee Connections lesson supplement as Kimberly Washburn, Curator of Education at the Florence County Museum explains the indigo dyeing process in detail.

Indigo is a blue pigment produced by a variety of plants grown around the world. The dye, most commonly known in dyeing blue jeans, was a highly prized material in the early colonial days. The cultivation of indigo-producing plants and production of indigo dye became a major economic trade in antebellum South Carolina.