Align the Fibers : Indigo
Update:
December, 2024
We have ended our second year harvesting! We were set up at Roots and Shoots Nursery, and had so many volunteers come and help cut, donate their time and efforts to make this season possible! Alot was learned, networking and educating with International Center for Indigo Culture. Researching scaling production even more, working on a “fun”raiser, and of course the many uses of Indigo. Precious just successfully made some Indigo tofu with a local chef. A fiber piece is on exhibit at City Gallery invited by Caroline Gutman who has been documenting indigo for 4years the exhibit named “Children of Indigo”. If you are interested in volunteering time or skills or funds or a friendly chat about indigo,
contact: alignthefibers@gmail.com
Project Indigo:
We are currently focused on the textile dye Indigo, which is the “original blue jean dye”. There are 50 different species of this plant that are historically and currently grown around the world. We are currently focused on the textile dye Indigo, which is the “original blue jean dye”. Shifting to American-grown indigo products, the industrial market can slowly be transitioned to more safe and sustainable production, while supporting a new generation of farmers and processors in the Low Country and hopefully throughout the U.S.A.!
December, 2024
We have ended our second year harvesting! We were set up at Roots and Shoots Nursery, and had so many volunteers come and help cut, donate their time and efforts to make this season possible! Alot was learned, networking and educating with International Center for Indigo Culture. Researching scaling production even more, working on a “fun”raiser, and of course the many uses of Indigo. Precious just successfully made some Indigo tofu with a local chef. A fiber piece is on exhibit at City Gallery invited by Caroline Gutman who has been documenting indigo for 4years the exhibit named “Children of Indigo”. If you are interested in volunteering time or skills or funds or a friendly chat about indigo,
contact: alignthefibers@gmail.com
Project Indigo:
We are currently focused on the textile dye Indigo, which is the “original blue jean dye”. There are 50 different species of this plant that are historically and currently grown around the world. We are currently focused on the textile dye Indigo, which is the “original blue jean dye”. Shifting to American-grown indigo products, the industrial market can slowly be transitioned to more safe and sustainable production, while supporting a new generation of farmers and processors in the Low Country and hopefully throughout the U.S.A.!
Indigo plants are harvested, water fermented, filtered, and then dried into powder using a natural and non-chemical process, which can then be used to make a liquid dye. Closed-loop, zero-waste processing of indigo adds value to this nitrogen-rich plant by using the bio-waste created to make fertilizer or compost onsite with True Earth’s guidance.
Why Mobile? Mobile processing directly services the communities that have been historically growing Indigo and have not had access to larger-scale processing to powder. This mobility also provides pick-up service to multiple farms growing in the community and a central mobile source of education.
Why the Low Country? The textile industry is burgeoning in the U.S. in new and innovative ways, we want to support small-processors, specifically in the Gullah and Coastal communities whose history and heritage are directly linked to Indigo’s past.
We need your support to start up this mobile operation!!
Your donations will directly impact the growth of the low-country indigo market by providing direct contact for farmers and artists, mobile on-site processing, and educational training available for individuals to learn how to process from “plant to powder to textile”.
Fun Fact: insects of indigo! The indigo provides a home for so many insects, frogs, butterflies, bees, different types of caterpillars, and praying mantes.