Indigo Fabric meets Xanthea

By lizhaywood | June 5, 2023 |

Coming up this month, I’m presenting a course in collaboration with Kate Ward. The course combines learning how to create special fabrics using indigo with sewing a zero waste Xanthea top.

Xanthea is a zero waste pattern I published in 2021 and is my most popular pattern. It comes in 19 sizes to fit up to a 177cm/70″ bust. It can be made in knits or wovens and has a long sleeve option.

I’ve had a fun time producing samples! Preparations co-incided with the Knit-Spin-Weave fibre craft retreat, where I dyed the fabric for them. I got to be the one who prepared the indigo vat 🙂

Here are some transformations from indigo dyed fabric to garment…

This is linen, and the pattern is made by sewing running stitches and pulling them up tight before immersing it in the dye bath. The white blobs are where the fabric floated to the top and I didn’t turn it over. Maybe it’s more interesting like that though.
More linen. It was originally white, but a bit too see-through to use for much. I turned it into an Xanthea dress with gathered sleeves and it worked out really well.
I actually made this when I originally did the Xanthea pattern 2 years ago. I did an indigo dyeing workshop at the first Knit-Spin-Weave fibre craft retreat. Xanthea was already in the works and I brought along the exact size fabric needed.
This top has been worn lots by my teen and is still going strong.

I have two more pieces of fabric which I’m considering plans for. The one with the circles I think I’ll make into another Xanthea top in the coming weeks.

Like to join? The cost of the course is $97US. It has on-demand modules to watch immediately or whenever suits you. Kate demonstrates an array of indigo dyeing design methods including folding, pleats, stitching, resist and more, and shows how to get started setting up an indigo vat. I host a sew-a-long for the Xanthea top and dress.

Accompanying this, there are 3 Zoom calls starting on 16th of June, where we’ll meet and discuss our projects, and Kate and I will answer any questions. The calls are on Fridays in the afternoon/evening for North America, late evening for Europe, Saturday mornings for Aussie/NZ, and are recorded. In our last collaboration, these Zoom calls were a highlight! Lots of fun, so interesting, and very inspirational. If you’re on Facebook, there’s also a private group to share your progress.

Read more and register here. Maybe I’ll see you there!

Cheers! Liz

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