More on Shibori Dye

After participating in the Shibori dyeing that took place two weeks ago, I became very intrigued. I have done plenty of cloth dyeing before, but this dye seemed to be so much more rich and special. Therefore, I decided to do some more research on it.

Shibori dye stems from Japanese decent dating all the way back to the 8th century. The term "shibori" actually comes from the verb "shiboru," which means to wring or squeeze. This term is very fitting as there are so many ways to manipulate the cloth to create such beautiful patterns. We were able to see some of those patterns in class and at the final workshop. One specific technique is called Kumo Shibori. For this design the user must scrunch small portions of the cloth very tightly. This design looks random and spider-web-like.



Arashi Shibori is another technique. The cloth is wrapped around a pole tightly with thread and then compressed. Once it is dyed, it turns out like this:


Itajime Shibori  is my favorite that I have seen. This design is created through accordion folds and pressed between two hard objects. Therefore, the dye can only reach the exposed cloth. The end result looks like below!


http://blog.needsupply.com/2013/04/21/shibori-a-short-history/