Indigo Dyeing. 說說藍染

Hi all. Its Mintgumchewer again.
I have recently got involved in a film making project. That I helped them to make one dress for the leading actress. It was an indigo one piece. I LOVE indigo dyed fabric very much. I used to dye fabric myself when I was in the high school. And in later time, I did quite a lot research in sustainable dyeing methods for my dissertation in university, indigo dyeing is one of those.

Indigo dyeing has its significant influence in the history of fabric dyeing. It utilises the plant leaves in extracting the dye material. Fabrics turned into art boards with beautiful print patterns when indigo meets shibori or wax resist dye. And you will find that the print pattern / symbols you see on the fabric mean a lot to the native. That they repay the mother of nature for the gifts it brought to them. It moves me always.

For the reason why I chose writing about sustainable dyeing methods for my dissertation is that I found that commercial dyeing poses great danger to the environment, also to the workers. Therefore I would like to know if there is another way to work it out without compromising so much. Maybe I can share more about my research to you guys in the later time.

When I was in Shanghai a few years ago, I bumped into a workshop in near People's Square. I saw many indigo dyed products, from coin wallets to garments. Sadly, they seem didn't really produce anything there. You will not see them dyeing fabric there. But it still a good place to go if you have time walking around Shanghai.

(But I still brought quite a lot stuffs from them lol)

See you guys around!

早安！又是Mintgumchewer了！
最近幫忙短片拍攝的工作，做了一條藍染裙子，很久沒有親手染布，馬上鉤起很多回憶。我超喜歡藍染布，中學時候就有自己染布/畫布做手作。（以前有作過一個繪布錢包送人，不知道她還有沒有在用，哈哈）後來讀大學時，我的畢業論文也是圍繞可持續染布方法，故此也作了不少研究，藍染是其中一種。

藍染在染布歷史上佔了很重要一席位（特別是熱帶/亞熱帶地區），透過從植物中萃取染料進行染色。當藍染加上扎染法/印染法，布料可以變出很多不同的花型或圖案。很多民族（如苗族等少數民族）會利用那些圖案，如花瓣、海浪、雲朵去表達對大自然的感恩。以前在作資料搜集時，我對此覺得很感動。

當初選擇以可持續染布法做畢業論文題目，主要是因為現在的大型工業化染布實在對環境或是對工人造成太多傷害，因此我想知道有沒有其他方法可以代替並應用到現代工業裡去。有關我的研究，看將來有沒有機會跟大家分享一下。

幾年前在上海的時後，路過一家在人民廣場附近的藍染工作坊，裡面有很多藍染的商品，從零錢包到衣服都有。可惜他們並不會在那邊染布，所以基本上都沒有什麼更深入的交流。但大家有時間在上海閒逛的時候，還是可以去走走看。
（當然最後我始終是買了很多東西啦呵呵）

下回見！