GL, one of our readers wrote to us with questions about her indigo vat. In Part 1, we shared  WSN President and producer of Natural Dye Workshop DVDs,  Yoshiko Wada‘s response. In Part 2, we share the response from renowned woven shibori artist and natural dyer Catherine Ellis.

Yoshiko Wada and Catherine Ellis sharing a lighter moment during a natural dye workshop at Arrowmont School.

Dear GL,

Diagnosis of an indigo vat requires observing lots of little details. I usually start my own indigo vats with very hot water, so I am wondering if that is really the problem. I’ll answer this by asking some questions about your vat…

~ How long ago did you make your vat?

~ When did you decide that it was not working?

~ What were your initial ingredients and quantities?

~ How much water did you use?

~ How hot was your…