I’m getting ready for a shibori dying day with my art quilt buddies. (Shibori is a type of dying which uses manipulation of the fabric to resist the dye in certain areas. Tie dye is an example.) There are a TON of ways to fold, roll, scrunch, and stitch fabric prior to dying to get a variety of patterns. This time I decided to do something new for me: hand stitching.
Here I’ve stitched parallel rows. When the threads are pulled tight, they create a sort of messy smocked effect. The folds will make it difficult for the dye to get into the crevices, creating a pattern.
I also stitched little rows of tucks. This photos shows them before being drawn up.
Then I got very industrious. Here, I stitched tucks in small circles and pulled them tight.
With my fabric folded in half I drew concentric semi-circles for stitching. These will yield full circles when dyed.
Allow me to say that this stitching and pulling and knotting took A LOT of time!
Next, I used a long basting stitch on my machine and did some more parallel rows and rows of tucks. MUCH faster! The only trick is to pull up only the bobbin thread.
Finally, I switched to faster non-stitching methods. I used rubber bands to hold scrunched fabric in place.
Check this out: rocks caught up in the fabric and secured with rubber bands. I used a ton!
I can’t wait to dye this stuff!
Update: Our dying day has been postponed due to COLD here in Florida! How weird is that? Our plan was to do it outside with temperatures in the 60s. That would have been fine for us, but not for the dye. The water needs to be fairly warm. I guess I get more time to prep.
Ellen Lindner
P.S. I know my “cold” story isn’t getting any sympathy from your northerners and you’re right! I can’t believe the frigid temperatures I’ve seen reported! Stay warm folks.
One degree above zero in Hyannis on Cape Cod! Only indoor methods today! I got a book on stitched shibori with indigo for Christmas. Can’t wait till summer to try it.
Brrr! Yes, you should definitely stay INSIDE! I think this is going to be fun. I bet you’ll enjoy it (when it’s WARMER!)
Looking forward to seeing your dyed pieces, I’m sure I will be surprised! The rocks are intriguing and something different for me to see
Hi Ingrid,
I can’t take credit for the rocks idea, but I think it will be pretty cool. (Although I DID use rocks of different sizes and shapes which I think will be different and neat.)
Have fun! It will be interesting to hear your report on the reveal: cotton threads are more tedious to remove because they hold the dye, polyester thread will be easier to see as it will stay white! We learned this deep into the process….
Oh, gee, that thread tips sounds like a good one. However, I had a lot of difficulty tying knots with my polyester thread (which is what I started with.) There’s probably a better version of thread I could have used. Eventually I got lazy and used the COLORED cotton thread that was already in my machine. I guess that’s a no-no, so we’ll see if I get any color bleed or whatever.
Can’t wait to actually dye this stuff!
OK, I am in Florida, but I do have sympathy for the dye session being cancelled…because most of the year it is too hot to be outside to dye fabric!
Right. Usually we’re whining about the heat, rather than the cold. Quite a turn around.
Can’t wait to see your results!
Me too! The online examples look SO great!