LIVING BLUE
INDIGO
Living Blue produces its own natural indigo. Working with over 3000 indigo farmers in Northern Bangladesh, the group takes advantage of non-agricultural land to grow what is possibly the best known dye plant in the world: indigofera tinctoria.
Instead of forming the extract into cakes, Living Blue dries the extract in thin sheets - a clever innovation that results in small chips of indigo pigment. The chips are easily ground to a fine powder for dyeing.
Maiwa has been working with Living Blue since 2011. We hosted presentations by Living Blue at the 2012 Maiwa School of Textiles Symposium. In January 2013 Maiwa took a team of dyers and textile specialists to help troubleshoot artisan dyeing. That story was presented as the Threads Lecture for 2013. In 2017 Maiwa was able to offer training to Living Blue artisans as part of our workshop for Indigo Sutra. Now we are proud to offer Living Blue Indigo as one of our natural dye options.
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LIVING BLUE
Living Blue is located about four hours north of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The rural areas are fertile but are in need of diverse employment opportunities.
Charllotte Kwon, founder of Maiwa making an organic test vat during Maiwa's 2013 visit.
Working with the senior artisans at Living Blue in 2013 to document vat recipies, dye techniques, and procedures.
Living Blue is well positioned to take advantage of what is, historically, one of the best indigo growing regions of the world. The growing demand for a natural source of indigo has the potential to empower rural communities, while also helping to support local dyers, quilters, and an entire network of artisans.
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Maiwa's Living Blue Indigo is available at Maiwa Supply on Granville Island
7 days a week between 10am and 7pm
and
Maiwa East at 1310 Odlum Drive Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.
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OUR BANDANAS ARE BACK IN STOCK!
We are finding that our bandanas are in high demand. The size is perfect to explore an idea or technique. Many artisans are telling us that they can now effectively create a series for exhibitions and summer craft fairs. Best of all ... these bandanas are organic cotton!
