I spent today with Jane Callender http://www.callishibori.co.uk/learning the basics of Shibori/Indigo dyeing. The Shibori bit is the folding/stitching/squishing of the fabric. We are using a traditional Indigo vat. When you put the chemicals in the water and stir, this bloom thingy slowly appears. It is fascinating and not nearly as smelly as I expected.
We learned how to fold, wrap and tie the fabric onto a pole, then dunked it into the vat. When the pole is lifted out of the vat
the fabric is a bright green but it immediately starts to darken and turn blue. We dipped for one minute and then left the pole in the air for 1/2 hour to allow the fabric to absorb the dye, then dipped again. Silk was dipped twice but the cotton pieces were dipped four times. 
Here's a pic of the fabric resting in between dips. We have left these to dry overnight and will take them off the poles and rinse tomorrow. Then I will know whether I pulled the strings tight enough....
Homework for tonight is to stitch some fabric ready to dye tomorrow.
1 comment:
That looks like so much fun!
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