A TECHNIQUE DRIVEN Blog dedicated to mastery of surface design techniques. First we dye, overdye, paint, stitch, resist, tie, fold, silk screen, stamp, thermofax, batik, bejewel, stretch, shrink, sprinkle, Smooch, fuse, slice, dice, AND then we set it on fire using a variety of heat tools.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

My shibori technique - an experimental sampler?

I did a bit of thinking and didn't really want to play with a pole today, so decided on doing a sampler of tying techniques. So, I did a little research and started right in!
This first photo is of the piece of hemp/silk fabric I chose as my experimental piece all tied up in different ways.

Then I mixed up three types of black dye, all from Dharma: #300 New Black, #39 Black and #44 Better Black. I used 1 teaspoon of each to one cup of warm water. Mixed the dickens out of it, then poured some in the bottom of my container, added the dry fabric and then more dye. Over all that I put as much soda/salt water over the whole thing to cover? it. (well as best as possible)
(All photos came out purple - go figure?)

I think the dry fabric just absorbed as much dye as possible, I should probably have soaked it first, but just couldn't wait!



So this picture is of the first section that had little twists in it, which I think is called Miura?














The second section was just pleated and then bound a couple of times.














And then there is the tied tightly round and round with a thread.

















And the last section is twisted tightly until it curls onto itself and held with a rubber band.








And the last photo is what the piece actually looks like.

6 comments:

  1. Very interesting. I'm enjoying your shibori experiments and might be inspired to try it soon. Which part did you like the best? Thx, Suzanne

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  2. I liked the tied knots a lot so now I'm doing a silk scarf in larger points...to be continued :)

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  3. I like the patterns and color!!!

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  4. Carol--Could you explain a little more about the "little twists" you put in the first part? I love how they turned out and want to try it for myself.

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  5. They are just tiny pinches/points (tried to make them equally spaced and then wrapped with medium weight sewing thread. I had just wished I did them with wet fabric instead of dry.....but there is always tomorrow :)
    Does that help?

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  6. Have you thought of simply twisting the fabric on a diagonal, and when twisted, then either knot, or begin a simple chain stitch as in crochet. Then hand apply the dye. If it is done with blues and white you will result in the traditional pattern known as the storm. I periodically post my shibori projects on my blog at www.imagesinbloom.wordpress.com

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