Shibori is an ancient Japanese technique for dyeing fabrics still little known in the West. In shibori, fabrics are tied and manipulated, or protected in other ways, before being immersed in the dye bath.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Lo shibori is an ancient Japanese technique for fabric dyeing still little known in the West. In shibori, fabrics are tied and manipulated, or protected in other ways, before being immersed in the dye bath.
In this type of dyeing are obtained very special decorations. To make this happen, the parts of the fabric that do not have to absorb the color are protected. It is very interesting to experiment with this technique using vegetable tinctures obtained from plants and vegetables (for example from beet, wisteria or nettle).
With this technique, very original abstract decorations are obtained. The name of this technique comes from the word "shiboru", which means to twist, tighten and press. In India and other countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia similar dyeing techniques have other names, for example band e wheat.
Compared to the more well-known techniques of the “tie and dye”, with the shiboru you get much more imaginative, rich and varied decorations.
The blog Alice & lois shows some interesting pictures to learn a dyeing and decorating fabrics with the shibori method.
Materials
- 100% cotton fabrics
- Powder dyeing for fabrics or suitable vegetable dyes
- Clothes pegs, rubber bands, office clips
- Twine
- Wooden dowels and sticks of various sizes
- Waterproof gloves
1) Prepare the color in a pot or bucket. Follow the instructions on the type packaging color for fabrics that you have chosen. You can try experimenting with natural dyes with vegetables, flowers and leaves. Read here.
2) Cut out a square of fabric from the chosen cotton fabric. Test with a square with a side of 45 cm. Most shibori techniques suggest starting with a square shape.
3) Fold the fabric back on itself so as to get a triangle from your square. Or fold the fabric accordion to get a rectangle.
4) Secure folded fabrics with wooden sticks and rubber bands and / or with clothes pegs and document clips. Also place oval and square wooden dowels on the parts of the fabric that you would like to decorate in a particular way and secure them with rubber bands.
5) Secure folded fabrics very well using rubber bands and clothes pegs. Wear dewaterproof gloves and immerse the fabrics in the dye bath. The more the fabric remains immersed, the more intense the color will be.
6) A time of 45 minutes, but always check the directions on the package carefully. For natural dyes, longer times may be needed. Some powder dyes may require you to add calcium carbonate to the dye bath.
7) Remove the fabrics from the dye bath after the rest time. Rinse them very well and then let them dry.
THU il tutorial complete with all pictures.
Watch the video to discover the world of shibori dye.
Finally, here and here, you will find some interesting examples of how to dye fabrics with the shibori technique by coloring fabrics with flowers, based on the experiments carried out by Podere Argo.
Marta Albè
Photo source: Alice & Lois
Read also:
The rediscovery of the vegetable dyeing of fabrics from herbs
Yukitsuri: the spectacular Japanese method of protecting trees from snow
Furoshiki: 10 things you can do with scarves
Kintsugi: repairing with gold to give value to broken things
