![]() ![]() (Attributions for images above and below at end of page.) Other plants around the world, such as woad in Europe, also contain indigo but in much smaller quantities, and are less useful for modern dyers. ![]() In Hindi, indigo is called neel, which means blue.) It’s a leafy shrub which gardeners will recognize as belonging to the pea family. ( Indika was the Ancient Greek word for India, their source for blue dye. The plant, Indigofera tinctoria, probably originally came from the Indian subcontinent, hence the name. In some parts of the world indigo was the first known dyestuff, which is especially amazing because it’s not at all easy to get the color out of the plant. ![]() The history of fabric dyes is fascinating because of the great lengths to which humans have gone to possess beautiful colors. People have always wanted color in their lives and colorful things to wear. It’s a huge topic, so this is just a short introduction to whet your curiosity - a mere drop in the indigo bucket, if you will (although usually it’s a vat!) - and show you how some of our fabrics are made. Indigo! The most beautiful of blues! With the recent arrival of our indigo block prints, we wanted to take a look at this magical dyestuff. Fifth in a series about how our Indian fabrics are made. ![]()
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