Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Shibori Tie- dye.

So, my latest children's yukata order is made of this lovely faux-shibori.

Rainbow Shibori Yukata

What is shibori? Shibori is a Japanese tie-dying technique, typically done in blues on white, but other colors are also used on occasion. This is not your 'I made a rainbow t-shirt at camp' kind of tie dye though. The fabric I used doesn't look like tie dye at all, does it? Well, it's not, because it's fake shibori made through fabric printing. However, it could be made through shibori methods. Each dot would be tied off to prevent the fabric from absorbing dye. Really good shibori can have thousands of tiny little dots, each tied off separately to produce patterns and motifs. Varying the sizes and shapes of the tied off areas make different designs, square and round shapes being the most common in shibori. At one point kimono made with certain patterns of shibori dying were considered as formal as a tuxedo in western Europe, because it could take weeks of work making all of those tiny dots!

If you would like to see pictures of someone's modern shibori work, or you live in California and are interested in learning how to make your own, visit Susan O'Fennell at Oriba Shibori She also has some cool links on her blog as well^^

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