This Saturday I was lucky to be able to attend a fantastic workshop at Melbourne's Kimono House. The workshop was run by a very charming and knowledgable lady called Colleen Weste who knows many things about fabrics, Japanese shibori methods and indigo dyeing.
I decided to attend the workshop as I have long loved traditional Japanese dye methods and the fantastic indigo colour. In particular I was keen to learn about the 'itajime' dye method whereby you use shapes and clamp them onto fabric as the resist. This year I have been teaching year 9 and 10 students how to make kimonos, including dyeing their own fabric. I can't wait to try some of these dye methods with the students!
Here are some of my before and after photos from the day. I loved it all and I will definitely be trying out some more fabric pieces.
Stitching the silk pre-dye...
Stitching the silk pre-dye...
Clamping with all sorts for 'Itajime'...
Pegs leave interesting marks...
I trialled wrapping a variety of items into this cotton piece of fabric including screws and champagne corks...
Itajime sample one....
Itajime sample two...
Itajime sample two...
Itajime sample three...
Itajime sample two...Gracie likes it too!
gorgeous, thanks for sharing Gillian! looks like a lot of fun - what are your plans for the fabrics now? Lx
ReplyDeleteOh Gillian, indigo dyeing is something I've always wanted to do too. How wonderful for you to have done it now.
ReplyDeleteAny idea what you want to do with this gorgeous fabric?
I'm not sure what I will use the fabric for, however I have already used them in class as examples. I just want to dye more stuff with indigo now!!!
ReplyDelete