Living in a small mountain village just outside of Tokyo, I grow a crop of indigo every year and process the leaves into dye using traditional methods. I also breed silk moths, raise the silkworms and then reel/spin the silk from the cocoons. The silk is then dyed with natural dyes and finally woven on traditional Japanese looms. I run several ten-day live-in workshops a year at the old farmhouse here in Japan focusing on the Japanese use of indigo. Contact me for information.
Monday, 17 October 2011
Woven Shibori
For all the weavers who want to try something new I recommend Catherine Ellis book, "Woven Shibori". She really has done a remarkable job researching and experimenting to the millionth degree the possibilities of 'weaving-in' the pull threads of shibori and the following surface dying .
Most of us Neanderthals have been painstakingly measuring and marking and stitching evenings away to get similar results. She shows us how to set our looms to get the stitching built in. It felt a little like seeing a "Ring-around-the-collar or 'Scrubbing Bubbles" or a 'Mr. Muscle your a good man to wake up to." ad for the first time. Too good to be true. But the results are in...and they work.
Thanks for reminding me of this book! I did a class on dyeing and made a set of three (woven) shibori scarves, but never bought this book at the time... I'm in another class, now, making (shibori) fabric for a dress and am still in the planning stages. The idea of treating six yards of fabric in the normal-way at this stage of my weaving development is making me a little nauseous, haha. :)
ReplyDeleteyou are too funny!! however, try kanoko shibori on the loom...
ReplyDeleteor any of the kumo techniques :)