I wanted to sort of share that with others in a way, in a creative way, and so then I began the exploration is what I call the indigo, and also gathering abundance. So, I was so awestruck by nature and just the amount of plants that I’ve never, ever seen before, and it just was captivating and so inspiring for me.Īnd so, that’s why I do what I do, is just because of the beauty of nature. Where I live, Charleston is pretty mostly developed. Like I said, when I moved to Johns Island in 2015, I had always… I had never lived in the countryside, and so it’s eye opening for me, and it was so beautiful because where I live, not to brag, but just to give everyone a sense of the flora and fauna of where I live, it’s 500 acres of wild, untouched woods. Can you go a bit more into depth about Johns Island and that discovery in the woods? I’m really interested in the history of the island and also what it was like when you encountered this wild indigo. So, at that moment I really became inspired by nature and felt a calling to work with indigo and specifically the historical indigo of where I live, and that’s the whole premise of what I do, is utilizing what’s available and sort of going back into the root of it all and doing everything by hand, and everything with all natural ingredients, and everything very slow and with passion. So, at that moment I felt like it was definitely meant to be, that it was sort of my calling to work with indigo, and my next life I call it because my previous life, 20 years I spent as a hat maker and milliner, and this was a turning point in my life. It’s all history inspired for me.Īnd so, that’s how I started, and I began my indigo path by wanting to plant the historical indigo, and one of those varieties is the Indigofera suffruticosa, so I planted my first crop in 2015, and then after I planted that crop, I was walking in my woods and I discovered our native Indigofera Caroliniana in the woods. I would have never started my indigo path if I didn’t live where I live. Leigh Magar: Where I live on Johns Island, I moved there in 2015 and I started researching the history of where I live and began reading about the historical indigo in Charleston and on Johns Island in the 1700s, and so that opened my eyes to indigo, and I was awestruck and I began to read about all types of indigo all over the world, and I felt like it was in my path because of where I lived. LaChaun Moore:And what type of indigo do you grow? It’s a sea island just outside of Charleston, South Carolina, where I make seasonal and limited, one-of-a-kind dresses, and from the dress scrap cloth, home goods and textile art that I dye with plants that I grow and gather from where I live on Johns Island. My name is Leigh Magar and I have a textile art design studio called Madame Magar on Johns Island, South Carolina. Can you start out by introducing yourself to our listeners and talking about how you began your indigo journey? Thank you so much for having me and being interested in my indigo story. Her studio embraces a seed to stitch design philosophy that explores the history and rich yet tangled past of place while living and working on a former indigo plantation in Charleston, South Carolina. Leigh’s textile design studio, Madame Magar, is inspired by art, nature, folkways, and history.

On this week’s episode, I’m speaking with indigo farmer, textile artist and dressmaker, Leigh Magar. Sarah Resnick: And we are the hosts of the Weave Podcast, a project of the weaving yarn shop, GIST Yarn & Fiber. Dresses, accessories, and textile art(created from dress scrap cloth) are hand-dyed and hand-stitched.Ĭomment below to keep the conversation going! The “seed to stitch “ project interweaves design and nature by growing Indigofera Suffruticosa and other dye plants and respectfully harvesting wild indigo, discovered on a walk in the studio woods and other wild dye plants to use mindfully in the one of a kind collections. The seed to stitch vision is inspired by Eliza Lucas Pinckney who as a young girl in the 1740s planted Indigofera Suffruticosa and with the hard work and knowledge of the enslaved made indigo a huge South Carolina crop. Her studio embraces a seed to stitch design philosophy that explores the history, a rich yet tangled past of place while living and working on a former indigo plantation in Charleston SC. Leigh’s textile design studio Madame Magar is inspired by art, nature, folkways, and history. In this week’s episode, I’m speaking with Indigo Farmer, Textile Artist & Dressmaker

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