Shibori Dyeing

Last weekend I headed up to McKinney to do some shibori dyeing at my friend's house. I ordered all the supplies for Dharma Trading Company - indigo dye kit, the yummiest 100% linen fabric, 50/50 cotton linen blend, and a silk infinity scarf. I also bought some Kona cotton to cut into small squares to practice with, and a white cotton t-shirt.

It was super easy to mix the dye. It had to sit for about a half hour. I checked out a bunch of books from the library, and found some resources online too. 

Shibori is a Japanese technique for creating patterns in the fabric with indigo dye. It's similar to tie dye, but really more focus on a single color. The patterns are fairly predictable, and it was a blast.

It was a little overwhelming dyeing 3 yards of linen at once. It's just a lot of fabric to work with at one time. It might be easier to make the garment first and then dye it. I don't know. Anyway, super fun and I would totally do it again.

The process is fascinating as the dye is green, and so your fabric comes out green but quickly oxidizes and turns blue.

 


This is my 3 yards of linen.

 

Here's the t-shirt


One yard of 50/50 cotton linen fabric


Test squares