Sekka shibori

In the last year I have been learning about fabric dyeing and recently have been drooling over shibori dyed fabrics. What is shibori? In a n...

Sekka shibori fabrics. Sekka kimono. As part of a textile study tour, our group visited a true rara avis of Japan - the last remaining studio producing traditional sekka-style shibori fabric. First, have you ever made paper snowflakes? The process involves folding paper, snipping into the folds, and then carefully opening up the paper to reveal a lacey and almost magically symmetrical snowflake. My children and I used to decorate our dining room windows with these every winter. The paper…

In the last year I have been learning about fabric dyeing and recently have been drooling over shibori dyed fabrics. What is shibori? In a nut shell it is a Japanese way of resist dyeing cloth where you fold, stitch, bind, twist and/or compress a fabric to give it a pattern. I have a whole pinterest board filled with fabrics one prettier than the other. We are staying at my MIL's house while waiting to move into our own home, but I couldn't wait any longer to dip my hands in dye, so I got a…

I have just put these lovely pieces of sekka shibori on my website here. Sekka means snow flowers and refers both to the dynamic designs and the technique for creating them. Sekka is an itajime clamp style of shibori (explanation below). They're dyed in a vibrant indigo on a very soft white cotton. This fabric was often used for nappies (diapers) and this first piece is still stitched in a loop in the style of a traditional Japanese nappy. The full loop measures 34cm x 125cm - the photo…