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Bluivance. Plant indigo, dyed by hand in Porto.

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The Bluivance seal, an indigo stamp holding a b over 2016b2016

From a 50 g sample card to a rinsed, aired blue, in five steps: about two weeks for the card, then three to six weeks in the vat.

The three blues
  • Névoa2 dips
  • Ribeira5 dips
  • Noite10 to 12 dips

How a job runs

  1. Write to us

    Tell us the fibre, how much of it you have, the shade you are after and the date you need it back. We answer every message within two working days.

    One address for everything: hello@bluivance.com

  2. A sample card

    Send 50 g of your yarn or a 50 × 50 cm piece of your cloth. We dye five shades on it, from Névoa to Noite, so you choose your blue on your own fibre rather than on a screen.

    €25, ready in about ten working days, credited against any order over €200.

  3. Book a slot

    Once you have picked a shade, a 40% deposit puts your job on the vat calendar. The vats take about 25 kg of yarn or 80 m of cloth a month, so larger jobs are booked into a month ahead.

    Minimum 1 kg of yarn or 5 m of cloth per shade. The balance is paid on collection or before dispatch.

  4. The dipping

    Your fibre goes under for ten minutes, comes up yellow green and turns blue in the air, then goes back in. Again and again, until it matches the card you chose.

    Three to six weeks depending on weight. Noite adds a week because of the extra dips.

  5. Rinse, air, collect

    Everything is rinsed until the water runs clear and aired for 48 hours. Collect it from the studio Tuesday to Saturday, or we bring it round on a Friday anywhere within 30 km of Porto.

    Friday delivery is free over €300, otherwise €15. Tracked courier to the rest of Portugal and the EU at cost.

Write to hello@bluivance.com Every price and term

Six short answers

The things weavers ask before anything else, one to a card.

Hours

10-17Tue-Fri

Saturday 10:00-13:00 is for collections only. Closed Sunday, Monday, São João and 1-15 August.

Minimum

1 kgor 5 m

Of yarn or of cloth, per shade. Small enough for one handwoven run, large enough to keep a vat honest.

Lead time

3-4weeks

For yarn up to 5 kg. Noite adds a week.

From

€7per 100 g

Yarn in Névoa, the palest. Cloth from €14 a metre.

Distance

30km on Fridays

Brought round by hand to Gaia, Matosinhos, Maia and Espinho. Free over €300, otherwise €15.

Since

10years at the vats

From one barrel in a borrowed garage in 2016 to three living vats today.

A note from Inês

Every skein and length of cloth that comes through this door goes into one of three living vats, and each vat has its own temper. Send me a few lines about your fibre and I will tell you plainly whether my vats can give you the blue you have in mind. If they can't, you will hear it before you have spent a cent.

Inês

Where next

  • Dyeing and pricesEvery shade price for yarn, cloth, resist work and garments, and the terms behind them.
  • The vatsVelha, Rio and Pequena, and how they are fed, warmed and read each morning.
  • The studio and InêsFrom a borrowed garage in 2016 to the workshop, and how to arrange a visit.