Honeycomb Shibori Technique Revisited

A couple days ago, I did some experimenting with variables
 in regards to the Honeycomb shibori technique. 

 I used three different cords with which to wrap the fabric. I also wrapped each one in three different ways. The one furthest on the left was folded in half and wrapped diagonally around a half inch nylon diameter cord, the middle one was wrapped around a 1/4 inch diameter cord and the one on the right was wrapped leaving about three inches on the outside. It was done on a pastel fabric,
using  a 1/2 inch jute diameter cord.

So yesterday was the big unveiling. I really love unwrapping 'batched' fabrics

 and seeing how the dyes and techniques turned out. It's almost like Christmas!

Below is the one furthest to the left in photo above.  I like how this one turned. out.
 I used Robin's Egg, Cerulean, Dragonfruit and Plum.

This is the middle one from the top photo. I'm pleased with this one too.

  I used Turquoise, Cobalt and Raven Black.

This is the one on the right in the top photo, done on a commercial pastel fabric, 

with some fabric hanging outside of the loop. It was

too pale for me. I had used Chartreuse and Emerald Green on it. I decided to re-dye it.

 So I re-tied it using the honeycomb method again and 

added some cerulean to it.  The picture below shows the improved one.

I had lots of fun experimenting with this technique, and it should be helpful

 in predicting outcomes in the future. 

Sun Printing Again

Did some sun printing a few days ago, using plant material from the yard, 

large washers, an electric stove element, etc.

Below is the reverse side of this blue piece. The foam core on which I pinned the fabric had wrinkled plastic affected the texture on the print. Can't decide which side I like best.

On the piece below I just spattered the paint and scrunched it up to get an over all design.

Wisconsin and Michigan Trip

     Just returned from a two week trip to Michigan and Wisconsin. It was really great to see family and friends. I flew into Detroit to see family there, then onto Bellevue to check out my brother's hydroelectric powered mill which generates electricity for about forty homes in town.

I visited the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, where my niece lives. I was pleasantly surprised at some of the world-class art they had on their walls for such a small town.

Above is one of Deborah Butterfield's Horse Sculptures from the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. Her work is amazing to see in person. She builds these sculptures from branches, then takes them apart and casts them in bronze and reassembles them. 

Here's a quilt I liked from an exhibit there.

Above are two pictures of beautiful Lake Ishnala, where my sister and brother-in-law, who live in Madison, Wisconsin, took me for a scrumptious dinner at the supper club there. 

So green and peaceful.

Then it was on to Milwaukee, where I was born and raised.

Here I am with Carole, who has been my friend since 4th grade. We had a wonderful time going to all sorts of fun places in Milwaukee. The picture above and the two below were taken at the Boerner Botanical Gardens.

Here I am with Carole and my sister, Anne in the historic third ward neighborhood, which as been turned into a very hip, fun place go to eat or shop.

 We took the free 'Hop' streetcar from the east side of Milwaukee to there.

Above is the new Milwaukee Arena. It has helped to revitalize the downtown Milwaukee area.

It was great seeing all my friends and family, but it's also great to be back home.

More Shibori Dyeing

It's so great to have the studio up and running, so I can go out whenever I want and find all my stuff together in one place and be creative!  I can't thank my wonderful husband enough for making this all possible. I used to have to schlepp stuff from three different places to my sewing room, that is, after rearranging the studio room so I would have space to dye.

This piece is accordion folded and tied.

The piece above is made by wrapping the fabric around whiffle balls, believe it or not!

This is another one made by folding and using rubber bands to secure the folds.

This was a stitched resist where I used a running stitch in a spiral design.

Here's a Linen/Cotton shirt folded and dyed twice, 

once with horizontal folds, then again with vertical folds.

Indigo Dyeing in the Studio

Below are photos of some more indigo pieces I made the other week.

This is a photo showing the fabrics tied, folded, clamped with rubber bands, etc. 

ready for the indigo vat.

Folded and clamped.

I used the honeycomb technique on this one twice, changing the direction of wrapping the fabric around the rope to get it darker on all four edges.

Folded and clamped with chopsticks.

Folded and clamped.

Arashi Technique on linen. The linen takes the dye beautifully.

This was a silk scarf that I overdid in the Indigo vat.

Folded and clamped with popsicle sticks to create the chevron pattern.

This was a piece on which I used potato dextrin and thickened orange dye and then who knows what else. I wanted to cover up mostly everything but the orange circles.

This was also an over-dyed piece. I used the honeycomb technique on the fabric originally

 and it just needed more. Still needs some more defining, but I have a couple of ideas for it.

Folded and clamped with wooden squares.

Folded, clamped with large metal washers.

Indigo Shibori Shirt Dyeing

I finally opened my Jacquard Indigo kit that I purchased from Dharma Trading company in December of 2016. I bought it to give me some motivation as I laid in bed recovering from my spinal fusion surgery that I had a few months earlier. Well, the kit sat there until the last Saturday this June.

Indigo dyeing seems to be very popular and I've wanted to check it out for awhile now. It was lots of fun and very different from the procion dyeing that I've been doing over 20 years.  The preparation of the fabrics using itajime or arashi techniques are the same however. Here are some pictures of some of the pieces made. I'll add more next week when I have more time.

As you can see below, I used a variety of itajime (folding, binding, clamping, etc.) techniques

 as well as the arashi (tied around the PVC pipe.)

The pieces below are oxidizing. They have been dipped from one to three times each. The more times you dip the fabric, the darker the dye will be.

(Notice, Fang, our black cat on the table in the back who likes to hang out in the studio.)

Above and below are two vintage linen napkins I dyed using the arashi technique

 and then cut and made them into this shirt. I'm really pleased with it. 

 The linen took the indigo dyes just beautifully. Thank you to my good friend Marilyn who gave me her mother's old linen napkins and tablecloths.

The lovely shirt below is a J. Jill, 100% Linen shirt, size Large, that I dyed in the indigo last week.

It is for sale if anyone is interested. Just email me or leave a comment.

It was gifted to me some time ago and no longer fits me.

Below is a video that show the indigo oxidizing.  After you finish doing all your dipping into the indigo, you open up the fabric to allow it to oxidize. 

That is when the fabric turns from  yellow-green to the dark blue.

New Shibori Shirt

I made a new Shibori shirt last week using itajime techniques. 

I accordion folded the shirt and secured the folds with rubber bands on the lower half. 

 On the upper half did a lot of scrunching and secured those with rubber bands also

 as you can see in the picture below.

Next I applied the dyes and let it batch overnight.

Here's my new shirt.