Certificate Module 2 Chapter 6

Shibori

For my first few samples, the arashi shibori, I thought I would save the hassle of mixing up dye by using fabric paint.  However, it was so thick I had to dilute it to get it to brush on smoothly and the results were rather pale.  I liked the effects though, so I'll try again later using dye.



2.6.1 arashi shibori before dyeing



I wrapped 4 different pieces of cotton around the same plastic tube, wrapping with string and gathering up as I went.  The results are below:



2.6.1 arashi shibori after dyeing

 For the next set of samples, I mixed up Dylon Velvet Black Fabric Dye.  The instructions said to mix the sachet with 500ml of warm water, to stir 250g of salt into 6 litres of warm water, then add the dye and stir.  I mixed the dye powder with just 150ml of water, used the full 250g of salt, but used just 1.5litres of water.  This made a strong enough solution to give a really satisfactory black.  I used this for the tie dyeing and the tritik shibori.

2.6.2 fabric folded concertina style from short edge then tied at intervals

2.6.2 folded and tied fabric after dyeing

2.6.3 fabric folded in concertina folds then doubled over and held with a crocodile clip



2.6.3 crocodile clip folded fabric after dyeing








2.6.4 little buttons inserted and tied with string



2.6.4 little buttons after dyeing







2.6.5 fabric folded diagonally, twisted, doubled back on itself and tied at the loose end

2.6.5 after dyeing

2.6.6 tritik shibori before gathering

2.6.6 tritik shibori gathered

2.6.6 tritik shibori after dyeing

I found the shibori work much more exciting than I had expected.   I had never tried tritik or arashi shibori before and, now that I know the effects, I plan to do another dyeing session, using the stronger black I got from the Dylon dye.

Health and Safety measures observed during this exercise:

• mask worn while mixing powdered dye
• rubber gloves worn while dyeing
• frequent breaks while posting on blog, to avoid neck and shoulder pain