About this project
What is The Indigo Project?
The Indigo Project is two-fold.
First I will be teaching indigo dyeing workshops in Oaxaca, Mexico to native artisans to give them life skills that will help to better their incomes. I will be teaching the same group from 2010 advanced ikat techniques. I will teach a new group of ten beginning ikat techniques and I will teach a wonderful new way of making a reduction indigo vat thanks to Michel Garcia's research! To learn more about the weavers from 2010 click the link
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2132961
Secondly I will travel to one of the last villages in Mexico to produce indigo. Indigo production has sustained them for generations, but this could all become lost as the younger generation leaves the village to work in the city. It can become lost because this is a subsistence lifestyle and one bad crop can ruin the village financially. Last year there was too much rain and they were only able to produce a small amount of indigo, this was devastating for the village. It could become lost as the land is deemed more valuable for producing food crops rather than indigo. It only takes one generation to lose a craft forever.
I will travel to the village in the weeks before the indigo is harvested to photograph and interview the villagers. When the indigo is ready to be harvested I will follow the crop from the field to the indigo cake.
All of this will be become my next book Stories of Hope - The Indigo Project
By telling this story I hope to get the word out about the beautiful indigo that this village produces and increase the market for their indigo. I have worked with indigo from different parts of the world and for me this is some of the best indigo I have ever used!
What is indigo?
Indigo is magic! It is the color of the night sky. It is the color of blue jeans. It is surrounded by myth and superstition. It has healing properties. It can be a sign of wealth or of the working class. It was the favorite color of Tutankhamen and Bluebeard!
Indigo is a green, weedy plant that produces blue colorant through the process of oxidization. There are many species of indigo - tinctoria, guatemalensis, polygonum tinctoria, suffructicosa to name a few.
Where does indigo come from?
Indigo grows in many parts of the world, here are just a few places where you can find indigo - Central America, South America, Mexico, India, Africa, the MiddleEast, China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and right here in the United States. Indigo was grown, produced, traded and worn all along the Silk Road.
How is indigo made?
Each culture, even each village has their own unique way of producing and using indigo. I want to tell the story of just one village and its very unique way of going from the plant in the field to the indigo cake ready for dyeing!
How can you help?
Donate to Kickstarter and get a great reward!
My goal is to raise $10,000.00 with your help.
By donating you become a part of The Indigo Project and you are helping to sustain the people of this village and their way of life.
Pass this link on to your friends, ask them to pass the link on to their friends.
I know this sounds like a lot of money to raise but let me break it down for you:
10 $1,000.00 donations
20 $500.00 donations
25 $400.00 donations
40 $250.00 donations
50 $200.00 donations
100 $100.00 donations
125 $80.00 donations
200 $50.00 donations
400 $25.00 donations
500 $20.00 donations
Where is the money going?
A portion will go towards updating equipment.
A portion will go to pay for a translator.
A portion will go to the village as I will be living there for a month.
A portion will help get the book into print.
A portion will also be used to pay for Stories of Hope-Oaxaca and The Indigo Project to be translated into Spanish.
A portion will go to my spending three weeks in Oaxaca City teaching indigo workshops to native weavers prior to traveling to the indigo village.
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This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on August 21, 2011.
Pledge $10 or more Pledge $10 or more
Your name on the Thank You page and a swatch of indigo dyed fabric
Pledge $20 or more Pledge $20 or more
Your name on the Thank You page and a signed 4X6 photo from the project and a swatch of indigo dyed fabric
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
Your name on the Thank You page and a signed 4X6 photo from the project, a swatch of indigo dyed fabric and 4 ounces of Oaxacan Chocolate
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
Your name on the Thank You page and a signed 8X10 photo from the project , a swatch of indigo dyed fabric and 4 ounces of Oaxacan Chocolate
Pledge $80 or more Pledge $80 or more
Your name on the Thank You page and a signed 8X10 photo from the project and an indigo dyed silk scarf
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
Your name on the Thank You page and a signed copy of The Indigo Project
Pledge $200 or more Pledge $200 or more
Your name on the Thank You page and a signed copy of The Indigo Project and 4 ounces of Oaxacan Indigo
Pledge $250 or more Pledge $250 or more
Your name on the Thank You page and a signed copy of The Indigo Project and 4 ounces of Oaxacan Indigo and 2 ounces of Oaxacan Cochineal
Pledge $300 or more Pledge $300 or more
1-day Indigo dyeing workshop with Linda LaBelle! I will do a private one-day indigo dyeing workshop with you at my studio. You learn how to make an odorless, quick reduction indigo vat using Michel Garcia's technique. We will then dye wool, cotton and silk. This is a super way of making indigo - something you can do in your own home, great to do with kids as no chemicals are used. Please note: you will be responsible for your own travel arrangements and expenses. Your name will also go on the Thank You page of The Indigo Project.
Pledge $400 or more Pledge $400 or more
Your name on the Thank You page and a signed copy of The Indigo Project and 4 ounces of Oaxacan Indigo and 2 ounces of Oaxacan Cochineal and a silk scarf dyed in indigo
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
3-day natural dyeing workshop with Linda LaBelle for you. I will do a private three day natural dyeing workshop with you at my studio. The focus of this workshop will be making color and using assists to change those colors. Utilizing everything from lemons to iron we will change the properties of the dye bath to create new colors We will work with wool, cotton and silk. Please note: you will be responsible for your own travel arrangements and expenses. Your name will also go on the Thank You page of The Indigo Project.
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
Your name on the Thank You page and a signed copy of The Indigo Project and a scarf handwoven by me with indigo dyed yarns
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
3-day natural dyeing workshop with Linda LaBelle for you and a friend. I will do a private three day natural dyeing workshop with you and a friend at my studio. The focus of this workshop will be making color and using assists to change those colors. Utilizing everything from lemons to iron we will change the properties of the dye bath to create new colors We will work with wool, cotton and silk. Please note: you will be responsible for your own travel arrangements and expenses. Your name will also go on the Thank You page of The Indigo Project.
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
Your name on the Thank You page and a signed copy of The Indigo Project and a shawl handwoven by me with indigo dyed yarns + 1 signed copy each of Stories of Hope; Mexico, India & Rwanda and Stories of Hope - Oaxaca, Weavers of Southern Mexico.
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About Linda LaBelle
Linda LaBelle is the owner of The Yarn Tree, (www.theyarntree.com) an on-line fiber business, an author and fiber artist specializing in natural dyeing and weaving.
Prior to opening The Yarn Tree in August 2001, Linda was the costume designer for Matthew Barney’s film series, the Cremaster Cycle.
Her book The Yarn Lover’s Guide to Hand Dyeing was published in Nov. 2007 by Potter Craft, an imprint of Random House.
She is currently involved with YoYo Ma’s Silk Road Project’s educational program, The Silk Road Connect, taking place in New York City schools. In October and November of 2009 and 2010 Linda went into the schools doing indigo dyeing with 450 sixth graders.
Take a look at the video on you tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch...
April 2011 Linda traveled to Kazakhstan as a cultural envoy at the invitation of the US Embassy to teach two natural dyeing workshops. This program was in participation with a local NGO “Our Heritage”, that is working to revive the traditional knotted pile carpet weaving of Southern Kzakhstan.
Also in the spring of 2011 Linda was the recipient of a travel grant from the Textile Society of America to attend ISEND2011, a natural dye symposium that took place in LaRochelle, France.
January 2011 Linda traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico to present a scholarship for Creativity & Experimentation and an interest free micro-loan. This was done through her charity-based organization Stories of Hope (www.madderlane.com).
November 2010 Linda had an article published in HandEye’s online magazine about her work in Rwanda.
http://handeyemagazine.com/content/bringing-joy-rwanda
September 2010 found Linda teaching an Ikat workshop at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca. She worked with 10 weavers returning to them a lost technique that will enable them to produce new products to sell in the marketplace.
August 2010 Linda did conservation work on Christo’s “Wedding Dress” and was the consultant for the sculpture created for the costume to be displayed on.
In the spring and summer of 2010 Linda demonstrated Silk Reeling at the American Museum of Natural History for their science camps in conjunction with the Silk Road exhibit.
On Monday March15, 2010 Linda was interviewed on Morning Living, the Martha Stewart Radio Show on Sirius 112/XM 157. The topic was Back to Basics – Weaving.
November 2009 Linda demonstrated indigo dyeing at the American Museum of Natural History’s NYC Educator’s Night.
In the Spring of 2009 Linda appeared on the reality TV show “Moving Up” (episode 402) as the guest weaver, teaching one of the participants to weave on a rigid heddle loom and executed the woven piece featured in the episode.
November of 2008 Linda spoke on the sustainability of natural dyes to the Council of Fashion Designers of America at an event sponsored by Earth Pledge.
September 2007 Linda demonstrated indigo dyeing to the Color Association of the US
Linda has gone into the NYC public school PS 89 to demonstrate indigo dyeing for the curriculum “New Amsterdam”.
November of 2008 Linda traveled to Puebla and Oaxaca Mexico. She was instrumental in raising the funds to start a library and purchase shoes and school uniforms for a children's center, Calpulli de los Ninos, Tlaxcalancingo. Mexico.
February 2009 she traveled to southern India (Aranya Natural Dye Unit, Munnar, Kerala) and worked with a group of specially-abled young adults teaching them to dye with Cochineal, an insect that produces beautiful reds.
June of 2009 Linda traveled to Musanze, Rwanda and worked with 10 genocide widows on their spinning techniques as well as teaching them to dye with local plants and weave on a rigid heddle loom. The women told her that learning to weave brought them much joy!
Upon her return from Rwanda Linda realized that in order to continue to do this work she must be able to do it independently of other organizations.
She now has a fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas (www.fracturedatlas.org) for her charity-based project Stories of Hope (www.madderlane.com). This will allow her to raise the funds needed to be able to continue to teach craft-based skills to those in need.
In the spring of 2010 Linda published Stories of Hope; Mexico, India and Rwanda about her travels and the people she works with. http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/1212970
In the spring of 2011 Linda published Stories of Hope-Oaxaca, Weavers of Southern Mexico.
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2132961
