Sustainable fashion is currently become the most-talked about topic in fashion. More and more brands are trying to become more sustainable in order to contribute a positive impact to the society. Apart from selling, a lot of sustainable brands especially in Indonesia often conduct workshops event to share experiences and knowledge with people. During this term break, the large-scale social restrictions in Indonesia experienced a relaxation whereby activities with a small number of groups were allowed. That is why I decided to participate in the private workshop class. That's why I decided to participate in a workshop to learn dyeing techniques to make it more productive between holidays. This workshop was created by a local Indonesian fashion brand called OSEM.
The workshop event lasted for 3 hours. Initially we were gathered to get basic knowledge about what it sustainable, why should we start switching to sustainable fashion, what impacts are made by sustainable fashion, up to the various types of dyes techniques and different types of plant-based natural dyes available. In fact, there are so many ingredients that we can find in the kitchen that can be natural dyes such as turmeric, suji leaves, carrots and many more.
After that we start to make a pattern on the scarf fabric based on our desire. Usually the pattern can be made according to how we fold the fabric and also with the help of rubber and chopsticks to tie it. The more folds and also the ties, the more crowded pattern is obtained in the final result. It is the very interesting part because we will not know exactly how the final pattern result will be created before we open the fold and ties at the end of the session.
After that, the scarf fabric will enter the coloring process. The color chosen for that day is blue color that is obtained from the Indigofera Tinctoria plant. The scarf fabric is dipped in the plant based dyes solution. The fabric needs to be dipped for 3 minutes, then lifted for a minutes and re-dipped again. The more you dip it, the darker the shade of blue. This can be adjusted according to the desire of each participant where at that time I really wanted a very dark blue color so it took me a long time to re-dipped.
Once we have the desired color, we can start to untie the folds as well as the ties. Here we can see the pattern formed from these folds and ties. After that, the only process that remains is the drying process.
From this experience, I learned a lot about the importance of sustainable fashion and also gained more experience about the origin of natural dyes and also the process of natural dyeing. I’m so glad I that I did this experiment as now I could be more appreciative towards those fashion that made up of natural dyes. Now I could reduce my consumption of toxic chemicals and contribute positivity to the environment.
Comments