Springing into Indigo and Shibori!

Last year I continued my Explorations in Dye and Color with an immersive study into organic indigo. I gathered as much information as I needed to build my own indigo dye vat and I experimented with several different types of shibori (the Japanese tradition of tie dyeing). I had so much fun in the process that I decided to host a summer shibori party. I curated several stitching, wrapping, binding, and clamping techniques that would yield results with beautiful color and exciting patterns.

My main objective in building my vat was to use a recipe that would be the safest for home use and relatively easy to maintain over time. I found the 1-2-3 method, originally developed by French botanist and chemist Michel Garcia, through Botanical Colors based in Seattle, WA. The vat required three components; organic indigo powder (1-part), an alkaline base (2-parts), and a reducing agent (3-parts). I chose henna as my reducing agent, and used food-grade calcium hydroxide as my alkaline base.

I successfully built my vat, achieving a beautiful indigo "flower" (oxidized indigo) on top and a coppery metallic sheen. For my party, I made three 5 gallon vats to accommodate ten friends, each with ~1-1/3 yards of scoured pfd (prepared for dyeing) cotton fabric. The pfd fabric, along with scouring (washing with a professional grade textile detergent in hot water) helped the dye bond with the fabric.

Dye processes are quite heavy on water consumption. To minimize this, I filled two 32 gallon trash cans with water from our hose. It was plenty to last my friends all day!

We practiced several common shibori techniques to begin to understand how the dye would behave using different resist methods.

Karamatsu Shibori (Woodgrain stitch)

This shibori pattern pictured above is stitched and produces a beautiful circular woodgrain design. It is created by folding the fabric in half and drawing concentric rings with a water soluble marker. Beginning with a buffer piece of fabric, a running stich is then sewn along the drawn lines. The thread ends are then pulled tightly, drawing the fabric into a folded fan. The piece is then immersed in the indigo vat, carefully working the dye into the unbound fabric while the piece is submerged.

Arashi (storm) Shibori

Arashi shibori patterns are achieved by wrapping the fabric around a pole (I used a piece of pvc pipe). This piece was accordion folded then wrapped diagonally around the pole, and secured with twine to produce the above chevron effect. For the above technique, the more folds in the fabric, the longer the dye took to penetrate through all of the layers, even when the fabric was dampened prior to dipping and saturated in the vat for several hours, giving this piece an ombre effect.

The arashi shibori pattern below was achieved by wrapping a single layer of fabric around the pole vertically, wrapping with twine, and then scrunching the fabric down to the bottom of the pole. The single layer allowed a more even pattern and dye distribution.

The Itajime (board-clamping) shibori piece below was created using acrylic templates. Here, my square cloth was folded into a pie shape and then clamped with identical shapes on both sides to create the below mandala. You can see the diamond and triangle shapes I used at approximately 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock. When folded, those were the sections directly exposed to the dye.

The below is also itajime shibori, for this I used two paint sticks bound on either side of a diagonal handkerchief fold.

Marbles, rocks, pebbles, beans, and beads are simple and easily accessible objects that can be used to create shibori patterns. Below I used marbles tied off with rubber bands to create the spray of stars below.

Indigo is a dye that builds on itself. Depending on the concentration of indigo available in the vat, you can get a range of beautiful cloud blues to almost black. With my freshly made vat, I dipped 3 times to get the deepest shade below. I did a first dip to get the dye onto the fabric, a second dip to even out the color, and a third dip to intensify the color. For the lightest shade I was using a well-expended vat, but I was able to dip multiple times to elevate the color into the medium blue range.

I was able to cut small, experimental pieces into this lovely 5" charm pack, which was donated to my guild for a lovely handmade door prize. A pack like this would be great for making half square triangles, snowballs, and many other block designs.

Hand dyed indigo integrates beautifully into quilt projects. The pattern below was designed by Janice Zeller Ryan, Better Off Thread. For this piece, I used my indigo gradations and a few scraps of arashi shibori.

Indigo has a storied history in cultures throughout the world dating back thousands of years. It is fascinating to study within so many contexts, from the species of plants from which is it derived, to its cultivation and social significance through time, its historical importance in global trade and economies, and its use as an artistic medium.

This year I look forward to further experiments in textile dyeing and surface design, as well as growing my own indigo garden.

I look forward to sharing my next adventure!

Liz