Indigo workshop taken in Fujino, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, with teacher Bryan Whitehead (Japanese Textile Workshops on facebook). Piece shown is my mokume (wood-grain technique) shibori project. Pattern is drawn on fabric in aibana ink (disappears when wet) then horizontal lines are stitched at intervals of .5mm, leaving floats of unstitched thread over the design. Threads are pulled and tied tightly, then piece is dyed in indigo vat 10+ times to achieve dark color for optimal contrast.
2 meters long, lightweight cotton fabric.
Katazome-and shibori-dyed pouch, made from samples created during the workshop. Katazome outer shell with smocking.
Opening of pouch; simple straight-stitch shibori on the lining.
Making katazome resist paste with Jane and Cecilia, fellow workshop participants. Paste is made from dough of glutinous rice flour (about 120g), defatted rice bran (about 180g), and water (about 300ml), steamed for about 1.5 hours, then mixed with slaked lime powder (to match the alkalinity of the indigo vat) and pigment (to see the pattern clearly). Paste is then passed onto fabric through stencils made of kakishibugami (persimmon tannin-soaked paper) and allowed to dry. Then stenciled fabric is dipped into indigo vat 1-4 times (paste degrades after many dips). Finished projects are rinsed in cool water, then soaked in hot water to remove paste completely.