Charlene Huntley

Charlene is part of the surface design play group in which I participate. When she heard I was doing shibori, she pulled out examples of hers from a class she had taken.  I begged to take some of the examples home to photograph and post here. Over the next couple of days, as I have time, I will put up her beautiful work for your ooooos and aaaaahs.

 

 These are spiderwebs shibori or kumo. Instructions are on page 68 of Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing.  Here are the instructions: "The cloth, dampened slightly, is pushed up from underneath by the left index finger, pulled taut (they use a hook but I just use my other hand), and drawn into folds. With the shaped cloth held firmly in the left hand, the dampened thread is bound from the base of the unit, where the folds are gathered, to the top.  The spacing of the thread is even.The thread is brought back to the starting point at the base by making several turns around the bound cloth. The thread is neither knotted or cut but is carried to the next unit."  I use the kamosage knot before I carry it over to the next unit.(page 57)

 Aren't these lovely mandalas? They are formed from a stitching technique called Japanese Larch or karamatsu shibori. The material is folded in half and rows of small stitches are taken in a semi-circle on the fold.  When the stitching is complete, the lines of stitching are pulled tight then dyed.  A "perfect" example will have a row of little dots down the middle of the fold from the knots.