Tag Archives: indigo

NEW! One-Day Indigo Dye Workshop

Posted on Monday, May 16, 2022 | Comments Off

Indigo blue is one of those magical colors that so many of us covet. It comes from a leafy green plant that looks like pea shoots and is found in many countries around the equator including Africa, India, Japan AND Oaxaca, Mexico. Laboriously cultivated and processed in the humid conditions of Santiago Niltepec near the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexican indigo yields a deep, rich blue color when it is dipped in the fermented dye bath several times.

In fact, indigo is not technically a dye but a pigment, which coats but doesn’t penetrate the fibers. It can be used successfully on animal and plant fibers like wool, cotton, linen and silk it can also be used to color wood and concrete. It does not need a mordant, but it is tricky to work with! Our dye workshop shows you how.

We call it magic because it is precise chemistry, where oxidization occurs to release the color. When you dip the fiber into the dye bath then lift it out, you watch the material change magically from green to blue before your eyes. The amount of indigo, water temperature, and fructose added to the dye bath (an organic, non-toxic natural sugar) must be precise.

Indigo was used to distinguish royalty in many cultures around the world and the French used it to distinguish the color of their military garb.

One-Day Indigo Dye Workshop

From 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. You grind the indigo into powder and prepare the dye bath, learning at least two different recipes and the history of indigo in Oaxaca. You will experiment with a shibori technique and solid color dyeing on cotton. If you wish, you can bring a small amount of linen or silk to experiment with, too. You will have a choice of making napkins, a table runner or a scarf.

You set your own dates. Please send several dates you are available and we will advise as to our availability.

Private workshop fee is $235 for one person. $195 per person for two or more people.

How to Register and Pay: Send Norma Schafer an email to tell us your preferred dates. We will check available dates and let you know. Then, you tell us you are ready to register.

You can choose one of three ways to reserve with a non-refundable 25% deposit:

Zelle bank transfer with no service fee
PayPal with a 3% service fee (we send you a request for funds)
Venmo with a 3% service fee (we send you a request for funds)

Please tell us which payment method you prefer when you tell us you want to register.

Indigo blue shirts are first made with natural manta cotton, then get four dye dips.

The balance is due in cash on the day of the workshop in either US dollars or MXN pesos (at the exchange rate of the day).

Once you register and make your deposit, we send you a confirmation along with the location of the dye studio, which is located in the historic district of Oaxaca city, about a 20 minute walk from the Zocalo.

Lunch is on your own. You can bring a lunch or go out in the neighborhood.
Please bring your own drinks and snacks.
We give directions to the workshop after you register and pay the registration fees.
Please, no children under the age of 15.

About Your Instructor: The workshop instructors are knowledgeable experts in the natural dye process and materials. They provide dyed wool and cotton yarns and thread for many of Oaxaca’s famous weavers and textile designers, and work with textile designers worldwide to offer customized colors that are used in fashion and home goods.

Please let us know if you have any questions. Thank you.

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Posted in Oaxaca Mexico art and culture

Tagged dye, indigo, Mexico, Oaxaca, workshop

A World of Indigo in Albuquerque, NM

Posted on Saturday, April 9, 2022 | 4 comments

In Oaxaca, indigo is cultivated in the hot, sub-tropical climate along the southern coast in a town called Santiago Niltepec on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. A leafy plant, it is usually found in the band around the world along the equator. For example: Africa. India. Japan. South Carolina. There are exceptions, as this Indigo Around the Globe exhIbition at the Albuquerque Museum describes the works of Scott Sutton, who is growing and dyeing with indigo in Taos, New Mexico, where I live when I’m not in Oaxaca. Nikesha Breeze, also from Taos, explores her own identity through Negro Cloth, the root of American blue jeans.

Nikesha Breeze sculpture, from cotton and raw indigo to blue jeans, homage to the enslaved

I love indigo. I look for it and collect it. i wore an indigo tunic woven and dyed by Sebastiana Guzman in Pinotepa de Don Luis to my son’s wedding. My sister and I traveled independently to Japan in 2019 on a quest for indigo. Same when I went to Gujarat, India — I had indigo on my mind. I’ve not been to west Africa, but I know Gasali Adeyemo, originally from Kenya who now lives in Santa Fe. He makes stunning shibori cloth that is featured in this exhibition, and that he sells online and at the International Folk Art Market.

Indigo isn’t really a dye. It is a pigment. It adheres to the surface of a fiber — cotton, wool, silk, etc. and requires no mordant (fixative). It is used to stain wood and concrete, too. An indigo bath needs to be kept at 90 degrees Fahrenheit and the delicate process requires oxidization in order to work.

Japanese indigo jacket embellished with sashiko

Indigo was the African cloth of royalty. It’s cultivation and harvest and transformation into a dye material was also dependent on the labor of African slaves who brought their knowledge to the Americas, exploited for economic gain by 18th and 19th century planters who exported it to England’s textile industry. At one time, indigo was the second most valuable export to Britain from the Americas.

In North and South Carolina, slaves were given indigo-dyed cloth to wear because of its durability and as a way to distinguished the enslaved from plantation owners. During the Civil Rights Movement, denim was reclaimed by African Americans who wanted to push against the pressure to dress in a way deemed “acceptable” by white peers.

in Japan, indigo jackets were worn by fire fighters because of its flame retardant properties. In the cold north islands cotton didn’t grow, so rough hemp was used to pad layered quilted fabrics that served as jackets and bed coverings. Known as boro, this cloth was pieced using salvaged indigo scraps, held together by stitches called sashiko, and handed down through the generations. A fashion born of poverty, it is now very collectible and priced in the stratosphere.

Early Navajo Dine weavers used indigo in the chief blankets they wove to keep them warm in harsh New Mexico winters.

In Oaxaca, my family, Fe y Lola Rugs, uses indigo in the rugs they weave. They prepare the dye bath and dye hand-spun organic churra wool yarn skeins in small batches to get the most intense color.

Our family also offers natural dye workshops that introduce people to the chemistry of indigo.

i found this exhibition beautiful, comprehensive and satisfying. If you are coming to New Mexico, don’t miss it. Thanks to Nancy Craft for suggesting that I see it.

Artist Laura Anderson Barbata from Brooklyn, NY, uses indigo-dyed cotton brocade, printed cotton and machine embroidery from Oaxaca, to create costumes for stilt dancers. We also saw her work a few years ago at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca.

On exhibit through April 24, 2022.

Yes! I’m now back in Taos. Still snow on the mountains.

4 Comments

Tagged Albuquerque Museum, exhibit, Indelible Blue, indican, indigo, Indigo Across the Globe, natural dyes, pigment

In Pinotepa de Don Luis, Home to Purple Snail Dye: Oaxaca Coast Textile Tour

Posted on Monday, January 31, 2022 | 3 comments

Did I mention that the Oaxaca coast is HOT! At 90 degrees Fahrenheit and close to equal humidity, the Costa Chica, the area between Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, and Acapulco, Guerrero, is sultry, even in winter. Women here in recent memory, wore wrap-around skirts called posohuancos, and were bare-breasted. In the 1960’s, the Church (ie. Catholic church), evangelizing missionaries and tour guides who began to penetrate the area, urged the women to cover-up. So, they designed a top that is a combo between an apron and a bra to go with their traditional wrapped skirt. And, this is how culture changes! Now, the younger women dress in Western-style clothing and save their traje (traditional festival dress) for special occasions — engagement parties, weddings, Saint’s Day festivities, and other ceremonies.

Our Oaxaca Coast Textile Tour is for the adventuresome who can ride in a van and travel long distances to get into the remote villages that we visit along the north coast of Oaxaca and southern Guerrero. Before decent roads and vehicles, the intrepid went into these areas on horseback or riding mules. We are lucky for a two-hour ride, not a day-long endurance trail up the mountainside.

In Pinotepa de Don Luis, we visit the Tixinda Cooperative whose leader is famed Don Habacuc Avedaño, the 81-year old who has been harvesting the rare purple snail dye on the Oaxaca coast since boyhood. In years past, he would travel by donkey or on foot from the village tucked into the folds of the coastal mountains to the sea. The caracol purpura proliferated along the Costa Chica then. They are smaller and harder to find now and it takes a day or two to journey to where they can be found, often as far as Huatulco, which is two-days from Pinotepa de Don Luis by vehicle. In the old days, it would take several weeks to get there. Don Habacuc and his compadres would find work along the way to finance their journey.

He is now one of only a few snail dyers left in the village. A rare commodity any way you look at it.

Today, he still climbs the rocks, a treacherous ordeal, with his adult son Rafael (who we call Rafa), to pick the snail from the rocky crevices, often prying them loose with a stick. He has skeins of hand-spun, pre-Hispanic locally grown white cotton draped around his left forearm. With his right hand, he squeezes the snail to activate the protection gland Slot Gacor Hari Ini to release the rare purple dye, careful not to kill the crustacean. He then returns it to the rocks. It takes 50 snails and one hour to dye one skein of cotton yarn that weighs 20 grams. That’s not even 1/2 an ounce. Not long ago, they could harvest and dye 15 skeins in an hour. No longer.

The threads are now used sparingly, as embellishment along collars with embroidery stitches depicting sea life, flowers and birds. Or, they are used as a narrow accent stripe or for the intricate, fine designs woven into the cloth using the supplementary weft technique. Experts are saying this beautiful purple thread may become a way of the past as the snail is endangered and difficult to find.

Our group sits on plastic patio chairs (of the Walmart variety) in a semi-circle on the packed dirt patio of the family compound. Chickens and roosters run underfoot, dipping beaks into buckets filled with water, wings flapping as they run between chair legs and human legs. We are surrounded by the finest back-strap loom woven huipiles and blusas suspended from clothing lines strung criss-cross across the courtyard. Rafa explains the snail harvesting and dyeing process. Don Habacuc is upstairs on a conference call with Mexico City officials about how to put more teeth into the federal laws written to protect the endangered species. This is their livelihood.

We put the brakes on our desire to riffle through the clothes and sit down to a fine, home-cooked meal of chicken or squash tamales and fresh fruit water made with hibiscus flowers — called Agua de Jamaica. Then, we plunge in to shop.

This is only the beginning of our day. We also visit the cooperative that hand-paints Converse tennis shoes that sell for over $250 USD in Oaxaca and Mexico City (if you can find them). This group are also graphic artists who hand-carve gourds and make print art. Then, we are off to visit Sebastiana, an amazing weaver in the same village. It is here that I find the perfect dress to wear to my son’s Southern California wedding in late March!

We are back to our base in Pinotepa Nacional by sunset, ready for dinner, a Margarita, and some chill time in our air-conditioned room!

We are taking registrations soon for the 2023 trip. Write Norma Schafer to get on the list! Mailto:Norma.schafer@icloud.com

Sebastiana explains the dyes and symbols in the cloth

Purple snail dye embellishes this indigo dyed huipil

16-year old weaver Viridiana shows me her exceptional work

The beauty of being on this trip is to meet and support the makers directly. Our group came for cultural appreciation and left with some stunning examples of traditional work.

3 Comments

Posted in Oaxaca Mexico art and culture

Tagged Costa Chica, coyuchi cotton, indigo, Mexico, Oaxaca, Pinotepa de Don Luis, purple snail dye, textiles, Tixinda, tour, travel

Deck Your Halls with Oaxaca Rugs: Shop Open

Posted on Tuesday, December 15, 2020 | 2 comments

We got this shipment of hand-woven Oaxaca rugs just in time for the holidays. Even if you are celebrating small (and we hope you are), these floor coverings (or display them as wall hangings) are a great decor enhancer for a fresh, new look. Made in Oaxaca, Mexico, by Taller Teñido a Mano on a 2-harness treadle loom, these tapestries are versatile and sturdy.

What makes these rugs special?

Our artisans use only naturally-dyed churro sheep wool
The wool is hand-carded and spun with the malacate — drop spindle
Dye materials include cochineal, indigo, wild marigold, wood bark, pomegranate (to name a few)
Our artisans dye the wool themselves — this is a slow process that yields amazing, vibrant and strong colors
The weaver uses his imagination to create unique, one-of-a-kind textiles
Designed in Oaxaca — made to last a lifetime

We also have Face Masks dyed with indigo, walnut and wild marigold, along with several skeins of cotton thread (3-1/2 ounces / 100 grams) dyed with indigo and wild marigold — perfect for weaving or embroidery.

Please place your order quickly to receive by December 24, 2020. Thanks so much.

#1–Indigo, cochineal, undyed wool, 23×36″ $285

To Buy: Please email me normahawthorne@mac.com with your name, mailing address and item number. I will mark it SOLD, send you a PayPal link to purchase and add $12 for cost of mailing. Please DO NOT SELECT buying goods or services — so we don’t pay commissions. We also accept Venmo and I can send you a Square invoice (+3% fee) if you don’t use PayPal.

#2–Indigo, cochineal, un-dyed wool, 23×36 $285

#3–Cochineal, indigo, marigold, pomegranate, 23×23″ $195

Handmade in Oaxaca: Taller Teñido a Mano specializes in experimenting with natural dye extracts for different applications on fibers. They have 18 years of experience and lead a group of artisans to create tapestries, bags, home goods and other textiles, often supplying thread to other artisan weavers, too.

**SOLD**. #4–100% henequin (Jute/hemp) with indigo + undyed wool. 23×22″ $175

**SOLD.** #5–Indigo + undyed wool, 31×55″ $285

#6–Indigo, undyed wool, cochineal, pomegranate, 23×23″ $195

#7–Indigo ikat + zapote negro, 22×33″. $295

**SOLD OUT.** 4 Skeins of cotton yarn, 3.5 oz. /100 grams, $24 each

SOLD. Yarn Skein #A — wild marigold (1), $24
SOLD. Yarn Skein #B — indigo (1), $24
SOLD. Yarn Skein #C — indigo (1), $24
SOLD. Yarn Skein #D — indigo (1), $24

Face Masks, 100% cotton, lined with natural dyes, $17 each

SOLD. Face Mask #1–TOP: pomegranate dyed
SOLD. Face Mask #2–MIDDLE: walnut dyed
Face Mask #3–BOTTOM: indigo dyed
Face Mask #4–indigo dyed (not shown)
Face Mask #5– indigo dyed (not shown)
Face Mask #6 — indigo dyed (not shown)

2 Comments

Posted in Oaxaca Mexico art and culture

Tagged Cochineal, for sale, hand made, indigo, Mexico, natural dyes, Oaxaca, rugs, tapestry weaving, Teotitlan del Valle, textiles

Guest Post: Thanksgiving Sale for Oaxaca Coast Textile Artisans

Posted on Thursday, November 26, 2020 | 2 comments

Most of us have made the difficult choice to NOT travel to Oaxaca at least until the pandemic is under control and a vaccine is readily available. I have heard from many people asking what we can do, absent of travel, to support indigenous artisans who have been VERY hard hit by the tourist economy free-fall. Bottom line: People are suffering and we can help directly by purchasing something beautiful they have made.

We are getting a jump on Black Friday by making this opportunity available to you today!

Happy Thanksgiving — Special Dreamweavers Sale for You — 10% Discount. Sale starts TODAY

That’s why I invited Patrice Perillie, founder of Dreamweavers /Tixinda Textiles from Pinotepa de Don Luis, Oaxaca, to write a guest blog. Together, we are offering a select group of hand-woven, naturally-dyed textiles for sale at 10% off.

Patrice says: Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity to re-think how we shop and who we support. Please consider giving a gift that will sustain indigenous weavers while delighting your loved ones! If indigenous artisans are going to survive this pandemic they need your help.

How to Buy and Get 10% Discount:

Go to Mexican Dreamweavers Facebook Page and find the textiles for sale.
Choose which piece(s) you wish to purchase. Please fully describe.
You tell Patrice which piece you want and that you were referred by Oaxaca Cultural Navigator: Norma Schafer
When you say we referred you, you will receive a 10% discount on your purchase. You will NOT receive the discount unless you say we referred you.
You send Patrice your name, address, zip code, telephone number, item(s) description and cost
Patrice will send you an invoice and add on the cost of shipping to the USA from Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca (estimated at about $65, depending on weight — note: higher shipping costs to Canada)
You will receive your purchase in about 7-10 days via either FedEx or Estafeta

Email for Patrice Perillie

You might ask: What is tixinda? This is the rare purple dye that is extracted from the caracol purpura sea snail. Tixinda is what the snail is called in the Mixtec language.

Below are some examples of what is available to purchase:

$400 USD. Indigo, rare purple tixinda and white cotton.
42″ long x 28″ wide

What Patrice Perillie, Immigrant Rights Attorney, Says …

I write to you from beautiful Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, where I have called home for the past 32 years. Here we all try to keep ourselves COVID-safe by wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and sanitizing, and not depending on government restrictions which are in earnest but rarely enforced. It has been a difficult time especially for the indigenous artisans of our world.

For the past 12 years, it has been my privilege to work with Tixinda, a cooperative of Mixtec women weavers from Pinotepa de Don Luis. We don’t see each other much now and we have had to adapt to the new COVID world. Many of the events we sell at have been canceled, including the prestigious International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Our all-volunteer, non-profit organization Mexican Dreamweavers*, has also been forced to cancel what would have been our 12th Annual Dreamweavers Exhibition and Sale, which normally takes place the fourth Sunday in January. Norma’s celebrated Oaxaca Coast Textile Tour to participate in this event is also canceled. We need to stay home to protect ourselves and our indigenous friends.

$200 USD. Use as shawl or table runner. Coyuchi and native cream colored cotton.

The Mixtec weavers of the Tixinda weaving cooperative are among the last of weavers in Mexico who grow their own cotton — white, green and native brown coyuchi. They spin it with the ancient drop spindle, color the fiber with natural dyes and weave it on back strap looms. An average of 400 hours of women’s work goes into each weaving!

Natural Colors from Local Plants and the Sea

Textiles feature the blues and blacks of indigo, red cochineal, and the sacred Mixtec purple dye tixinda that is extracted from a rare, nearly extinct sea snail. The color represents the divine feminine and fertility, a harvest is guided by the Moon! Pinotepa de Don Luis is the last place on earth where only 15 men, most over the age of 60, risk their lives and brave powerful waves along Oaxaca’s rocky coastline to lovingly extract the purple tixinda dye without killing the snail.

Wearables: Face-Masks, Huipiles, Shawls and More

Our beautiful, three-ply face masks make great stocking stuffers! A lovely shawl or table runner can dress up the holidays. Waist-length cropped blusas and longer huipiles add pizzazz to daily or special occasion wear. Even during the pandemic, we can create beauty in our lives by wearing something handmade.

$600 USD. Indigo, cochineal, coyuchi and rare purple tixinda. Woven by 48-year-old Lula. 30″ wide by 43″ long

As we celebrate the holidays in small bubbles of family and friends, we can express our love for Oaxaca by supporting her talented weavers. Our purchases give indigenous women the opportunity to stay in their villages and work from their homes, for themselves, instead of migrating without documentation to become cleaning and service industry help.

As an immigrant rights attorney, the reverse migration aspects of this work are what draws me to it, not to mention that I am an unabashed cross-cultural cross-dresser! Since the pandemic hit, I have received more and more requests to help indigenous artisans go to the US to make a living. Instead, let’s join together this Holiday Season and help them stay home and stay safe!

$300 USD. Woven on back-strap loom this tunic can be worn with pants or skirts. It has an indigo background and the Mixtec designs are in the rare purple tixinda dye and the brown coyuchi cotton. 100% cotton.

*Mexican Dreamweavers is a reverse migration project of La Abogada del Pueblo,Inc., a registered 501(c)(3). All donations are tax deductible!

To help ensure that these artisans and their textile traditions survive this pandemic, Dreamweavers has adapted to changing times and we invite you all to visit our