Penny, Bettina, Shana & Emily in the garden of Dyehaus
A couple of Saturdays ago, my friend Shana and I took a drive up to the wonderful Blue Mountains, a few hours inland from Sydney, to experience the wonderful indigo shibori workshop hosted by the amazing Bettina Ludowici of Dyehaus. We drove up and up to the top of Mount Irvine, through the parched bush and blackened trees from previous bush fires; we climbed higher into a prehistoric landscape of rainforest ferns and tropical greens. We saw Lyrebirds hopping through the blue-gums and bluejays singing in the trees to the background music of cicadas.
Selby the studio cat
We arrived at Dyehaus to be greeted by a field of jolly Laamas, and a beautiful garden of fruit trees, lavender hedgerows, a heavenly-scented rose garden, circle of ancient trees and a lovely workshop nestled between the bushes. The kind of bottom-of-the-garden studio every artist dreams of; wood burning stove, Selby the cat, Bruno the dog, metres of fabric, an indigo vat, a never-ending coffee pot and home-baked lavender and rosemary cookies, and lemon polenta cake. We were joined by the lovely mother-daughter print designers Penny and Emily of Andeol Textiles.
lavender and rosemary cookies
And so, the alchemy of the day began with the creation of the indigo vat, which involved mixing the powdered indigo dye with two substances which remove oxygen from the water; sodium hydrosulphite and soda ash. This method of dying is called ‘reduction’, and this stage of the process is a lot like proving yeast for baking; the warm mixture bubbles up and creates a oil-like film on the surface, shining between green and purple. We put a lid on the vat to keep the oxygen out over the next hour and got on with the busy work of binding our fabrics, Shibori style!
The Indigo Vat in the rain
(Ok, let’s just rewind, around twenty years back, and I was spending my summer holiday exploring tie-dye for the first time in my Mom’s kitchen with my friends, and we dyed everything; it was the most creative thing I had ever experienced! You just scrunched up a top / dress / tea towel, wrapped a few elastic bands over it and then threw it into a saucepan of boiling, smelly, salty liquid peach-pink, and then by some cosmic magic, the colours and the textures in the fabric just blew my mind, and made me really happy. It’s a love affair that has endured, and I still get very excited about opening up the elastic bands and finding constellations appearing out of the humble folds.)
A selection of work in progress by Penny and Emily, over the test pans of onion and pomegranate skins.
To continue; I have huge respect and admiration for the Japanese aesthetic, especially the heritage of producing beautiful textiles and also the wabi-sabi philosophy. I had seen pieces of shibori before, but hadn’t really appreciated the technique until recently, when I heard the magical combination of words married together; Japanese tie-dye. Jackpot!!!!
My samples developing on the grass
What makes the artistry of Shibori so special for me is the uniform use of indigo; there is something in the quality of indigo that adds depth and texture to all the fabrics we used (linens, silks, cottons). The dye seeks out the best qualities in each cloth and produces very different results, all very beautiful. I had a conversation with a young lady in Bondi who was admiring my little son’s Shibori onesie, and she described how Shibori made her feel; “the many shades of blue calm my mind, I find looking at indigo Shibori really relaxing.” I agree totally; Shibori as a whole process is meditative, calming, grounding, balancing. It’s an incredible Gestalt in using the body, engaging with the elements, allowing serendipity and breaking the illusion of control over a desgin outcome.
Shana enjoying her work
Techniques; ok, like anything worth doing, Shibori is worth doing properly, and it is also incredibly forgiving, so if you are in anyway a beginner or nervous about fabric dying, Shibori will be a very satisfying introduction to textile design and give you a professional result with a first attempt (promise!).
Back to my first tie-dye experiences c.1994, I did two very unrefined techniques; the ‘crush and tie’ to get an overall marbled effect, and the ‘circles’ method using elastic bands to achieve the classic psychedelic sunburst vibe.
Kumo Spider-cloud on crepe silk
These techniques are absolutely valid in the art of Shibori when done on a beautiful micro-scale, known as Kanoko (spotted fawn) and Kumo (spider-cloud), but for me one major pull was to learn the special folding and clamping techniques to achieve symmetry, repeat, and geometric forms in the final design using the Itajime technique. This is where the design artistry of Shibori really creates its own language, and like origami, the folding and pleating processes in relationship to the finished design is a really zen moment during the creative process, requiring patience and some accuracy.
Meditation on the drying process; works by Penny and Emily
Here is a breakdown of some of the brilliant techniques I learned at Dyehaus;
Wet fabric versus dry fabric; all fabric should be pre-washed before dying in any case, but there is also the question of adding wet, damp or completely dry fabrics into the dye bath. I think it’s worth mentioning as you will achieve different results based on your choices. My findings are that a wet cloth will give a softer end result, the lines will be less defined and an overall ‘soft focus’ look. Excellent for ombré and dip-dye techniques. Dry fabric gives a really deep indigo shade with defined lines and contrast, and I personally prefer this finished look.
Getting my hands blue!
Working with Indigo; Indigo dyes fabric in a mysterious and magical way, turning the fabric a livid yellow-green at first. Once the fabric is removed from the dye bath, the dye will slowly change to blue upon contact with air and the addition of oxygen into the process, (short fast dips into the dye bath are recommended to slowly build up a deeper shade of indigo with repeated submersions, rather than leaving it in for an extended period).
Arashi (Storm): using a pole, pipe, rope, stick (or anything cylindrical, maybe a recycled bottle), the fabric is placed on the bias and wrapped or rolled around the object (the fabric can also be pleated or folded to add an extra layer of patterning). This is then very tightly bound with string, thread or wire around the outside. Finally push the stringed sections together to create ripples and bulges across the surface of the cloth. Place in dye bath. The final design is a stormy-sky / spiderweb design with lots of tonal variations and shades of blue.
Arashi on a pipe, after dye oxidiastion
Arashi freshly opened
Itajime (board bound resist): this is the technique that gives the very zen, symmetrical and geometric patterning that makes a classic shibori textile. It is achieved by folding and pressing the fabric into a concertina-length, then folding into squares or triangles to create a small ordered bundle. This preparation is very important and needs some concentration, equal folding of the fabric and use of an iron to keep the edges crisp; think origami!
Itajime; jar-lid circle clamp design
many moons; circle clamp dipped in a dye of pomegranate skins to create a yellow shade
These folded shapes are known as Hekka (snowflake and folded-flowers) and Asa No Ha (hemp leaf). Once the the folded bundle is made, choose two matching shapes; circles, squares, sticks, triangles etc… these must be a matching pair, but could be anything from jar lids to lollipop sticks, wooden blocks, coasters… the shape of the block will dictate the shape created in the fabric patterning, and create the ‘resist’ aspect of the process. Sandwich the fabric bundle between the two shapes, securing with elastic bands, string or clamps. Place in dye bath. The final design is a contrast between the background colour of the fabric, the intense indigo border and the shape of the resist binding, all in a geometric natural repeat.
Concertina-folded and clamped square design on linen
Linen Itajime with square resist
Freestyle Itajime; I got really carried away and started clamping clothes pegs along the borders of my folded-bundle instead of using a resist block in the centre. I really love the results!
Peg-resist on cotton lawn
Peg-resist shibori on cotton lawn
Ombré; this technique requires a steady hand and some patience, but gives a lovely result. I recommend using wet fabric to achieve a really soft bleed from dark to light. Take your piece of fabric, get it really wet and then dip straight into the dye bath holding the corners evenly, then slowly draw out of the dye bath allowing the lower section to absorb more dye. The final design looks like a sea or sky horizon fading from dark to light with no visible lines. If you do get a harsh line at any point, use a hosepipe and wash over the line to encourage a softening and bleeding of the dye through the fabric. The picture shows Shana’s lovely ombre linen.
Ombre (or dip-dye) on linen, by Shana
Reminds me of the horizon at Bondi; pictured here during a storm at twighlight during a full moon
Stitched Shibori; hira-nui and Mokume (wood-grain) techniques use a running stitch to create lines, spirals or circles in the fabric which are pulled tight and the placed in the dye bath. This takes a long time to prepare and is an advanced technique. I attempted a spiral running stitch in fine silk, and had to pull the stitches really tight at intervals. It did take a while, so the centres are stitched and then the outer circle of the design is thread wrapped around the fabric. Although it was a bit rough on the delicate silk and left a few small holes, I am really pleased with the result.
Starting the hira-nui technique before pulling up the stitches
hira-nui, spiral-stiched and thread wrapped fine habotai silk
hira-nui, stitched and wrapped silk spider-web
Combining different techniques; once you find your favourite techniques, you can go crazy and try different combinations together to create variants in design. I think this is going to be a life-long labour of love!!!
I hope you are feeling inspired to try some Shibori of your own!!!
Cotton shirt dress, freestyle shibori with folds and peg resist
About Dyehaus;
Bettina Ludowici runs a beautiful workshop from her home in the Blue Mountains, NSW. Her upcoming workshops include indigo Shibori, mud-resist dying, wooden block printing, and reactive colour dying.
http://www.dyehaus.com.au / bettina@dyehaus.com.au
Bettina
The Dyehaus woodburner
Research references;
Honestly WTF: http://honestlywtf.com/diy/shibori-diy/
York Antique Textiles: http://www.yorkeantiquetextiles.com/glossary.html
Understanding Indigo: http://www.callishibori.co.uk/documents/Worskhoponweb.pdf
Imogen would like to thank Shana Price for being her partner in crime for this creative expedition!!
All words and pictures copyright Imogen Di Sapia 2014; please link back to http://www.saintsenara.com with credits if reproduced in part or entirety, share the love.
