INDIGO DYEING & SHIBORI
The last day of the Natural Dyeing class was all about indigo dyeing. I’ve always admired Japanese shibori dyeing, so I couldn’t wait to try it out in this class. Shibori is a method of creating patterns on fabric during the dyeing process by binding, stitching, folding, twisting, or compressing it.
I got the idea to dye fabric for a dress from Melissa and pre-cut and serged all my pieces beforehand. This way I could plan exactly where the shibori would be located on the dress. I used a pure white muslin rather than a natural coloured one to keep the blue clearer. To create my design I placed screws (of various sizes and shapes) underneath my fabric and wrapped each one up tightly with heavy upholstery thread. This is a fairly labour intensive type of shibori, but I really liked the circular patterns it creates.
Deeper blue colours are achieved through repeated immersion into the dye vat. I was able to dip my pieces into the vat four times. It’s a bit hard to tell what the colour will dry as, it is always much darker when it’s wet. When I unwrapped all the screws, several of them had transferred rust marks onto the fabric which I actually really like. The fabric dried to a really nice blue and I even like the slightly uneven colouring, it gives it a vintage feel.
Shibori tights? Yes, please!
Next post – the finished dress!
5 Comments
angelune
July 6, 2009 at 10:14 am
liza
July 6, 2009 at 10:38 pm
STYLISH DRESS BOOK 2 : DRESS “V” at make something
July 7, 2009 at 10:15 am
TangerineSamurai
July 10, 2009 at 12:27 am
world shibori network
July 20, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Were you wearing this on Saturday when I dropped in? I noticed your pretty blue dress but since you were busy teaching I couldn’t ask you about it. Your dyeing results are amazing, I will have to sign up for this next time.
in awe over here.
[…] TUTORIALS & DIY « INDIGO DYEING & SHIBORI […]
This is so beautiful! You make me want to learn more about natural dyes and techniques! Thank you!
Love the pics. Thanks for the comment on our website! http://www.shibori.org