TSUTSUGAKI INDIGO COTTONS FROM JAPAN!
Deep and intense, the color indigo has a history that dates back 6000 years to Peru, China, Japan, Mesopotamia, and India. At Britex, we import traditional Japanese indigo made by processes that began in the Nara period (AD 710-794). The leaves of Japanese indigo, Persicaria tinctoria, are allowed to mature at least one year and are then dried, fermented, and tended every three days by growers to produce sukumo--the dye solution—which is mixed with lime and lye and fermented again to make it usable. Over the centuries (especially after synthetic indigo production was invented in 1865), the number of indigo farms in Japan has dwindled from thousands to only four. In 1968, the Japanese government designated indigo as an intangible cultural property: so we are very proud to be one of the few US fabric stores to carry the real thing.
The designs in our indigos are "Tsutsugaki"--freehand paste-resist--which peaked in popularity during the Japanese Edo period (AD 1603-1868). The process begins with a rough sketch drawn on a white cloth. Rice paste (as resist paste) is squeezed from a holder made of tanned paper onto this design, and then the cloth is immersed in an indigo dye bath. Portions that need to remain lighter are recoated with rice paste each time the fabric is dyed in order to produce shading differences. The cloth is green when it first emerges from the bath, and turns the familiar indigo blue as it oxidizes. Because they are drawn freehand, no two designs are ever exactly the same--and this is considered to be one of the greatest features of Tsutsugaki.
Indigo fabrics wash and dry beautifully; they are naturally antibacterial and dirt-repelling, and the dye ages like leather instead of fading. Because they endure through decades and generations, indigos truly are the ultimate sustainable fabric—the antidote to fast fashion.
Our particular indigos are made of a high-quality, medium-weight cotton that is both easy to wear and a pleasure to sew. Come and see them in our brick-and-mortar store at 117 Post Street in Union Square or in our online store -- we guarantee you’ll love them as much as we do!
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