Indigo: Cultivate, dye, create Douglas Luhanko 9781911595625

Discover indigo; one of the most mystical yet widely used dyes in the world. Featuring inspirational images and presented with a luxurious exposed and patterned spine, this book shows you how to grow, extract and dye with indigo.

From cowboys' denim to the jeans in your wardrobe, indigo's enduring popularity survives to this day. In this practical handbook, learn how to use this powerful pigment to breathe life into your clothes and craft projects. This book contains all the information you need to use natural or synthetic indigo, alongside a wealth of dying recipes with other plants and textile ideas.

In the first chapter, learn how to grow indigo yourself, whether you have a windowsill or a full garden. No matter where you live, the authors provide gardening tips for the best species of indigo for your area. From there, a variety of different dyeing techniques are explained to achieve your desired results. Covering everything from warm or cold dyeing with indigo, fructose, hydrosulfite and fermented vats, as well as dyeing with other pigments for multi-coloured effects. A chapter explaining the science behind the dye also troubleshoots any problems to help you experiment further.

Finally, the projects section includes guides on how to use your dyed textiles to create intricate moyo-sashi and hitome-sashi embroidery, patchwork quilts or resist-dyed patterns. Weave using traditional ikat or boro techniques and dye beautiful honeycomb, storm and geometric patterns. Take your ideas to the next level with this potent dye and create projects that are bound to astound.

From plant to pigment, Indigo will encourage both beginners and experienced dyers to cultivate, dye and create with a wide range of innovative and exciting recipes and unique projects.

Douglas Luhanko has a passion for denim and indigo. Both he and Kerstin Neumuller run Second Sunrise, a raw denim menswear boutique in Stockholm. He also manufactures jeans in his own company Blue Highway.

Kerstin Neumuller is a men's tailor with her heart in handicrafts. She has spent many years studying handicrafts and the history of textiles. Together, she and Douglas Luhanko run the shop Second Sunrise in Stockholm.

'This inspirational and heartfelt guide will give even beginners confidence to experiment.'

'Well worth a read, and it will only give you the blues in a good way!'

'It's the ultimate handbook for the powerful pigment!'