bomaki shibori – tutorial

Lately I have had been reading everything I can get my hands on regarding shibori, the japanese art of creating texture and colour on cloth. There are an incredible variety of styles and techniques that are encompassed in the Shibori classification. Here are some photos (and a quick tutorial) of a piece I made using the bomaki shibori technique.

Habotai silk scarf, hand-dyed using the japanese Bomaki Shibori technique

bomaki shibori detail

and a glimpse into the process:

• Take a silk scarf
• fold and carefully roll (edit: wrap the fabric around.. I rolled the bottle along the fabric to wrap it) around a cylinder (ideally a PVC pipe) to create a snug fit (edit: I would not recommend using a wine bottle, but when in need I improvise! hehe)
• hand stitch using a fine silk thread to create a ruffled edge
• place a rubber band around the base of your cylinder
• carefully compress the rolled fabric pressing down toward the rubber band.
• place another rubber band at the top of the compressed fabric to hold it in place.

rolled, sewn and compressed

• Set up your dye pot (..and please follow common safety precautions when dyeing – nasty stuff can happen if you don’t)

the dye pot - bomaki shibori

• you can use any dye suitable for silk (protein fibre) acid dyes, indigo or other natural dyes etc..
• the dye will penetrate depending on how tightly you have compressed the fabric
• If you have it too tight, the dye will only remain on the outer layers, if you have it too loose, the entire piece will be dyed.
• Follow the instructions for your particular dye and carefully check to see how much dye has penetrated the piece.
• Feel free to manipulate the fabric to ensure better penetration.
• Once you have finished dyeing the piece, rinse with syntrapol and let it dry completely while still on the cynlinder.
• The texture will set in the silk. If you remove it from the cylinder before it is bone dry (24-72hours depending on your climate) the texture will be gone, but you will still have the pattern.
• Enjoy.

texture detail - bomaki shibori

featured in Epla’s Henne magazine ad

I opened my email this morning, to find out that Epla – Norways handmade marketplace will have a page in Henne magazine (april issue in stores on the 9th). They have chosen a collection of items to feature, and my ‘de Beauvoir’ pendant is one of them (happy happy!).

Epla is doing a fantastic job. Since going live in November, they have  had a steady growth in both the number of stores/items being posted, as well as sales. They posted their first quarter statistics on their blog, and their future looks very promising. I have been watching their progress with (obviously) great interest. They seem to have a good handle on the market, and are systematically taking the steps needed to grow at a pace that they can handle. The service they are providing is much needed to artists and craftspersons who prefer to ‘make’ versus market their work. I take my hat off to them. It is a huge undertaking, and they have done it well.

page in Henne magazine april 2010