Natural Indigo Dyeing

Indigo was for centuries one of Central America's most valuable dyes. In Nicaragua it nearly disappeared. Ten years ago, nine families in the north organized to grow it again and produce natural dye. This experience visits that cooperative, walks the fields, learns how the leaf is processed into pigment, and ends in a workshop where you dye a cotton piece using resist techniques — knots, clamps, stitching — that create patterns by blocking the dye. The blue appears by oxidation when the cloth hits the air. Shared lunch with the cooperative.