Get to know blueprinting with indigo and dye your cotton with this purely natural dye.

Blueprinting is a cotton printing technique, an ancient craft used to decorate fabrics. In this centuries-old printing technique, a protective paste is applied to fabric to create a pattern. After the paste dries, the fabric is dipped one or more times into a blue vat to dye it blue. The paste is then washed out, leaving a white pattern on the blue dyed fabric. Indigo is one of the oldest dyes globally used to dye textiles blue. In Europe, historically, the blue dye plant used for blueprinting was woad. From the 16th and 17th centuries, stronger indigo arrived from India, which allows for entire fabrics to be dyed, as well as creating patterns by covering parts of the fabric before dipping it into the indigo vat. Blueprinting has been recognized as UNESCO World Heritage in Germany. Cotton printing (block printing) has been added to the Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Netherlands.

In this masterclass, you will practice three different techniques to apply the clay paste – with a brush, stencil, and a wooden printing block from India – on cotton swatches, which you will then dye with indigo. Afterward, you will choose one of these techniques to design and dye a slightly larger piece of cotton. You will personally dye both the swatches and the final piece in the indigo dye bath. After oxidation, the cotton will be rinsed. At the end of the masterclass, you will take the pieces home to further integrate into your own project.

Nathalie Cassée operates her specialized Cotton Printing Workshop in the national monument, de Volmolen, in Amersfoort. She learned the craft of cotton printing in India, England, and France. Apart from direct printing on fabrics and paper, she deepened her knowledge of printing with resist techniques and natural dyes. In India, she worked in various regions to learn different styles and block printing methods. In her workshop, she houses a collection of approximately 1000 printing blocks.

Marte Haverkamp is a visual artist and natural dye expert. Marte puts a contemporary spin on traditional crafts and techniques. She maintains her own garden with dye plants in the heart of Amsterdam. Flowers from her garden, food waste, and natural pigments are the foundation of her monumental textile artworks and creative workshops, where experimentation always comes first.