Shibori Discharge Silk Scarves

For a very long time, I have not participated in online shops.  Well, now that roaming around the country and setting up shows is becoming a thing of my past, it is time to become part of the twenty first century and get on line.
My first group of photos have included my discharge silk scarves. Here are a few.   The discharge work has all been done on the black scarves bought from dhrama and using their discharge procedure with a bit of Janet's philosophy thrown in.  ( If a little works add more.)  So here are some shots of my scarves- hope you enjoy.

This scarf is 11 x 60 Habotai Scarf.  The procedure is what is called in Shibori  ITAJIME .
This process means fold and clamp.

When making folds (these folds must be accordion or fan style- which means don't fold over a fold-this double up of thickness makes it very difficult for the dye to penetrate) one must be precise and make sure that the folds must lay flat and are equally spaced.  There are many ways to make little boxes to help make perfect folds if one enjoys making helpful tools.  old your fabric or scarf length wise and then fold that long piece into the final shape.

  Fold your fabric so the final piece is a square, rectangle or triangle.

 Itajime works best with widths of fabric that are about 14 inches wide.   These techniques were used in the making of Kimonos which uses fabric only 14 inches wide.  After the fabric has been properly folded (I do mine very damp so I can hand pleat the fabric - I feel this easier than using an iron) it is time to apply the  blocks.

Blocks should be a simple shapes usually made of wood or plastic.  Any 2 rigid shapes can work.  Place a piece of plastic wrap between the block and fabric on both sides.  Position the 2 blocks directly on top of one another. On the piece above clamps were used to hold the circles in place.

The piece was then placed in a discharge bath and left until I felt the process was complete and then washed and cleaned.

Another example of Itajime but after the discharge the scarf was placed in a procion mx dye solution after the discharge  to add color.

                                                       This example of Itajame did not use clamps but sinew.  

The blocks were placed on the fabric and then just wrapped tightly to prevent dye from getting under the block.

  

This is another method of Shibori called Arashi meaning "Storm" or can be called Bomaki.  This technique is made by folding and wrapping your fabric around a pole.  The poles can be a broom handle to a pipe of a very wide pipe.  This form of Shibori is like all Shibori in that the excitement is when you unroll your piece and see what wonderful designs you have created.

More Arashi Shibori that is made by folding and placing on a wider pole and then wrapping with a resist such as string and pushing it down tightly on the pole.   Many of these designs will remind you of animal prints and can add much excitement to a basic black dress.

Tesuji Shibori which means pleated and bound.   This scarf was so easy to do.  The fabric was folded in half and then accordion  pleated length wise.  It was then loosely bound and allowed to sit in a bath of discharge.  Not very interesting in this piece but this technique can be exciting making vertical and horizontal stripes with numerous dyes to form complex color designs.

Well, it is a start.  I have a few up on my esty page under JanetSPlatzArts but have not found how to link the two together as of yet.  So I will call it a day and post this and find some comfort in doing nothing for a bit.

Thanks

Glad you stopped by and drop me a line.  I will post more on Shibori with my Rayon Scarves and Tee Shirts shortly.

 Waves as she watches you drive by.