Indigo Dyed Native American Shawl

This twice hand dyed fabric is finally becoming a dance shawl with flat fringe. Cotton sateen fabric was first dyed red using fiber reactive dyes.  Red represents the blood of Ancestors who’s shoulders I’m standing on to be in this moment and creating handmade. I manipulated the fabric in a random puffy cloud technique and secured it with rubber bands. Mixing five different Pro Chemical powder dyes in an immersion bath overnight created the red. After washing the fabric in blue Dawn, I hung it on a clothesline to dry. Next the fabric was manipulated using a concentric circle technique off the centerfold of the fabric and secured with tobacco twine. I used a natural indigo vat and dipped the fabric seven times. The indigo process removed some of the red fiber reactive dye so I got values of beige. I prefer the results from using this process instead of dyeing red fabric in indigo. My process takes more time, but the result is stunning. Today the fabric has been pressed and I’m organizing materials to begin cutting the flat fringe. Stay tuned! I’ll post the process with pictures.