Name: Indigo blue vat dyeing
Start: 2026-05-30T10:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-05-30T12:00:00-05:00
Location: Allen Centennial Garden

Dye something blue. We have articles and/or you are welcome to bring your own. Bring a bag to take your slightly wet blue articles home.
About this Event
Event Photos

We will be firing up our indigo pots using dye we grew last year for our first dyeing opportunity of the summer! Indigo is one of the most persistent natural dyes as it resists light damage and also washing out. Chemists use the same molecular shape when the make it in a lab!

Participants will have the opportunity to dye a bandana or small tote bag for $10. You are also welcome to bring an article you own because we can dye that too. Indigo dyeing requires no pretreatment.

Select your ticket based on your project size.

Something small? $10

Tee shirt sized? $15

Bigger? $20

Expect to spend up to 30 minutes getting your fibers throughly wet, setting up your rubber bands, and letting your project soak up color. We'll have a wash dunk station available to get your project ready for take home. Family friendly. Walkups welcome.

General Information:

We recommend navigating to the Observatory Drive and Babcock Drive corner. Plan to head north on Babcock Drive. The entrance to the garden is on Babcock Drive. You are welcome to drop off in the circle but we are not allowed to park there. Google maps will sometimes confuse the garden’s address (620 Babcock Dr, Madison, WI 53706) and navigate to Leopold Residence Hall.

Street parking can be found for free on the weekends near the Garden on Babcock Drive (lot 34), near Porter Boathouse on Babcock Drive (lot 35), and near Babcock Dairy (lot 40). There also ticketed by not paid parking in the Observatory Drive Ramp next to Steenbock Library (lot 36). Always refer to posted signage.

More information about parking on campus can be found here: https://transportation.wisc.edu/visitor-parking/

Workshops are held rain or shine. In the event of inclement weather, we will move inside the DC Smith Greenhouses and do things there. Should this need arise before the start of our program, then participants will be notified via email two hours prior to the event. If the weather looks unfavorable please check your email before heading out. All the needed plant materials will be brought to DC Smith Greenhouses (465 Babcock Dr, Madison, WI 53706).