Indigo Shibori

These are a few on the Shibori Indigo pieces that I have been working on recently.

This piece is stitched using the techniques of        Ori-Nui and Hishaki-Nui.  It was first stitched      and tied before placing into an Indigo wash vat    which gave it the paler blue background.  It was   then stitched again and bound with string onto a   pole and dyed in a full strength Indigo vat to give it the dark blue areas.  The piece is worked on      linen and is 30cmx50cm.

This piece is called Shell and is worked on a     heavy cotton fabric and is 30cmx50cm. I have  used a technique called Guntai stitching where the stitch is similar to a Whip stitch but pulled  up very tightly as it is done so that areas of the  design twist in interesting ways to form the       pattern.  It works best on longer thinner areas   .

This is a piece of Katano Shibori that I completed using the sewing machine in place of hand stitching as this would have taken too long!!  After I concertina folded the piece 5 times I stitched my design and placed it in the Indigo vat for 3 short dips. After you unpick the stitching your design will be revealed and as you can see the inside takes less dye than the outer edges as the dye won't penetrate as far into the fabric.  It will also depend on the complexity of your design and thickness of fabric.