Experiment with Indigo Shibori on paper.

I am teaching a workshop at Studio West End very shortly and we will be using fabric and paper.  Here are some of my experiments using A4 size paper.

 I have used Japanese Rice paper and dipped it into a pale Indigo vat. I have used Itajime Shibori
















This piece is Arashi Shibori and I have used thick plastic
                                                    to bind it onto a pole before dyeing in a full strength vat.

 This piece is quite thick and is cotton rag paper from India.  It has been folded and bound with fine string on a pole but not pushed up like traditional Arashi shibori









This piece is an Itajime using pegs and clips

                                                                                                                                                                             
This piece has had a sprinkling of tea leaves and placed in very hot water, dried and then folded and clamped as an Itajime piece and dipped into Indigo

Shibori Teaching

Feast your eyes on these beautiful pieces that my students have produced!!  They listened well!!

Bomaki Shibori

 Itajime shibori

                      Showing pieces made over a 5 day workshop  

 Lovely Mountain Path Shibori

                               Itajime piece drying on the line
















Another example of Itajime Shibori using perspex clamps.

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.