Japanese Textile Workshops 　日本のテキスタイル　ワークショップ

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.

Friday, 18 May 2012

Under Dyeing Indigo

Tanaka san spun and spun some old silk hankies I had made years ago from cut cocoons I had used for breeding and brought some very well done skeins to class today. We dyed them with gardenia pods to get a deep yellow with an aluminum mordant. Then the thread was dipped once, twice and three times in the indigo to get this green spectrum. She needs a little more practice on the spinner before the thread can be used for warp. But very close. This thread will be her weft. Gorgeous.

5 comments:

Amy V.18 May 2012 at 23:33
Such gorgeous spinning and dyeing! (I want to spin silk this summer. Please let Tanaka-san know she's an inspiration to me to get started spinning silk!)
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onesmallstitch18 May 2012 at 23:51
the colours are beautiful, I've never had access to gardenia pods and love the depth of colour they give. That's alot of hankie spinning, I find them hard on the hands to spin but love the texture. Hope to see what Tanaka-san weaves.
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deanna7trees19 May 2012 at 02:01
magnificent colors.
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Velma Bolyard20 May 2012 at 04:59
rich, lovely yarns. hankies are a little hard for me to manage, too. fine photo of that gold being absorbed.
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Lis Harwood21 May 2012 at 03:13
Lovely shades and I have to confess I was very captivated by the flowers in the photographs.
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