Xsilk Blog — indigo leather

Dyeing leather with indigo is a tricky business.  Leather and indigo don't always play nice.  It must also been an expensive project to undertake for indigo dyers in old Japan.  Katazome, is indigo pattern dyeing method developed in Japan.  To make the surface design on this wallet, first stencils were hand cut, then rice paste was applied to leather using the stencil.  Once the rice paste is dried, it acts like a dye resist.  Leather(with rice paste resist stenciled on) is dip dyed in indigo vat.  When rice paste is washed out, the parts once covered by the...