Shibori Fun

I decided to try my hand at Shibori - a Japanese method of fabric dyeing that involves pleating and binding the fabric to create the design. Mine is very basic but was a lot of fun to do and fairly easy.  I had some cotton scarf blanks to play with and looked up some methods online. (Sorry I can't give a source but I researched weeks ago and looked at a variety of instructional websites and then winged it).  After folding and pleating the fabric in a variety of ways, I kept everything in place using rubber bands, string and binder clips (the black metal ones from the office supply store). I used RIT dye and followed the directions. Since I didn't want to risk dyeing our sink or washing machine, I bought a large pot at the Goodwill and did it on the stove top. This worked really well and there was no mess. After I washed out the dye, everything looked really solid blue and I was a little worried about my technique. After cutting the string and releasing the binder clips I was amazed at the patterns that emerged. I call it a success!

My first attempt at shibori!

Each pattern comes out differently.

My only regret is that I didn't leave the plastic gloves on until after I had cut the strings and hung everything to dry. My finger tips are a bit blue!