Reflections on the Maiwa Journey Into Indigo workshop

I completed the January-February 2022 session of Maiwa’s Journey Into Indigo workshop. No need to bury the lede here: I absolutely loved it! The content was thorough and well structured. I wasn’t sure how well this would translate into an online course vs. an in person workshop and I was blown away by how much I enjoyed it. This has set a high bar for future workshops, both in-person and virtual.

This post is my reflection on the class and what I learned. I'll start by talking about the structure the class itself, then focus on how my perspectives changed over the course of the two months.

(Most of) My finished samples.

Content and structure

Journey Into Indigo is a 2 month, asynchronous, online course through the Teachable platform. Each week, a new module is released containing professionally shot videos and reference PDFs. The modules alternate between themes of vat creation/maintenance and surface design (shibori techniques). Each week also has a discussion forum so you can ask questions and share your work. Although content is dripped throughout the two months, the course site is available for three years after the purchase date. And the instructors say they plan on monitoring the discussion forums for a year after the course ends.

I followed along with the course in real time. A few weeks before the course started, I had built a fructose vat for my ikat dyeing. Because of this, I didn't create any new vats during the workshop. Instead, I focused my time on maintaining my existing vat and practicing the mechanics of dyeing with shibori samples.

I have a tendency to speed through things, but the structure of the class slowed me down and forced me to spend more time on each topic. I developed a rhythm: I set aside one weekend day each week as a dyeing day, and focused on each shibori technique for two weeks. In the first week, I tested out the basics of each technique. In the second week, I iterated on my samples. That ended up being fantastic and caused me to play and discover things I wouldn’t have if I’d sped through the course.

A piece, two dips down. It comes out green, then oxidizes and turns blue.

The two month structure was so much better than an intensive in person workshop! I love hands on instruction, but those workshops tend to be an overload of content in a super short period of time. Doing this at home, on my own time, with my own materials, gave me the space to try every part of the process myself, make lots of mistakes, and learn from them. It turned dyeing into a practice that I could continue on my own, and gave me a strong foundation for future explorations. Intensive, onsite workshops are great when the end goal is to produce a deliverable or when you want to try something with specialized tools and equipment that you don't have. In this course, the end goal was to develop your own process and expertise. 

In terms of downsides, there were two main ones:

  • Seeing classmates' work: The discussion forums were great for questions, but few people posted photos there, and not many people used the Instagram hashtags for the class. There was an optional Facebook group for sharing WIPs, so maybe that was more active? (I'm not on FB so I couldn't check it out.) Or maybe most folks didn't follow along in real time.

  • Access to later lessons: The extended duration of the class meant that I was ready for some of the information in the later modules before they were released to us. It was slightly frustrating, but the instructors were always willing to give info early in the discussion forums for those who needed it. (And if you don't follow along in real time, this won't be an issue at all.)

Persistence and patience

Now, about me and my background. I came into this class having very little dyeing experience:

  • I’ve used RIT to dye yardage and finished garments in a bucket and in a washing machine. About as hands off as you can get!

  • My only time natural dyeing was a daylong workshop at the Handcraft Studio School with Kendra Miles called “Painting and Printing with Natural Dyes.” (No blog post for this, but I do have an IG post about it.) I signed up for Kendra’s class wanting to play around with surface design and was surprised at how much focus was on the natural dyes themselves… despite the fact that it was in the course title. Haha! I walked away with some finished samples and no real desire to attempt dyeing on my own.

I saw dyeing as a means to an end, versus something I wanted to explore for its own sake. So why did I sign up for an indigo dyeing class, which is arguably one of the more intensive, finicky types of dyeing?! Ikat. And in particular, Mary Zicafoose's book Ikat: The Essential Handbook to Weaving with Resists. I'm using this book to teach myself ikat weaving, it has a strong indigo focus, and I'm all for trying anything once. 🙂 I used the book's instructions to create a small vat for my first project, felt super overwhelmed, found the class by Maiwa, and figured I’d give it a solid try before giving up indigo and switching to fiber reactive dye. I was converted within a few weeks!

Since this was a super new world for me and there was so much to take in, I focused on one thing at a time. Checking the ph and recording the health of my vat felt super overwhelming and complicated, so I put that aside at the beginning. (I was lucky that my fructose vat was relatively new and stable.) I started with the surface design techniques and fiber management in and out of the vat. The vat part was an experiment… I didn’t necessarily try to maintain it, figuring if it crashed, I could toss it and start again. That helped a ton. I also deprioritized the end product to some extent. I didn't care so much if the color was uniform or dark, as long as some dyeing happened!

Vat in the midst of a dyeing session.

Over time, I had more headspace for improving my technique. And as I got more familiar with what was “normal” for my vat, I felt more comfortable checking its health and knowing when and how to make adjustments. Once I had gone through the dyeing process from start to finish a few times, I knew what to expect. It felt more like a regular common occurrence versus a special, high-stakes event.

I also discovered that patience was key. I had to give the vat time to warm up and then settle; it was important to manage the fibers once they went into the pot (opening up the folds to ensure dye got everywhere vs. just plopping them in and putting on a timer); and the color improved when I really took the time to oxidize the pieces before putting them back for another dip. Throughout the two months, as I made this a habit and a true hobby, I started building out my supplies (a few bought new, many thrifted). Also the warmer weather and longer days meant that I didn’t feel rushed and could enjoy the process. Both of those that made a huge difference.

I loved the format of this workshop so much that I’m planning on attending another Maiwa class this spring!

My dyeing station! The stockpot on the left holds my indigo vat.

My projects

I made a series of blog posts about the samples I produced in my class. You can see them all here:

For more projects that use indigo and dyeing, check out my ikat dyeing projects.

And if you've taken an awesome dyeing or fiber workshop, or make your own ikat pieces, get in touch! I'd love to chat with you and learn about your experience.

(2023 Update: I now make my own itajime resists! See my Etsy shop fibercuriousclub.etsy.com. Use the promo code BLOG10 for 10% off any order of $20+.)

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Quilting with paper cords (Saeksilnubi)

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Even more indigo dyeing with stitched shibori