Synthetic Indigo Dye Shibori is a Japanese dyeing technique that makes use of folding and tying. After a design is created, the cloth is soaked in indigo dye. We used square pieces of white fabric and were asked to make designs. I used rubber bands and popsicle sticks. The first one I made was a technique derived from a video we watched in class. I accordion-folded the fabric, then put two stacks of popsicle sticks on each side. I attached them to the cloth with several rubber bands. That one ended up with a sort of rectangular pattern, and it was mostly white with some blue. For my second one, I made up a design. I folded the fabric into a flower my mom taught me how to make with table napkins and tied the middle with a rubber band. Then I separated two of the four petals and tied those with rubber bands, and tied the remaining two together. The result looked like two handles and a small flower, which I could open and close if I moved the other pieces apart and together. Once it was dyed, it was mostly blue with rings of white. Once we were done folding, we put our fabric in the dye, which was synthetic indigo. We let it soak for a few minutes, then took it out. At first, it looked green, but when we washed it with cold water and took off the rubber bands it turned dark blue. Because a craft is something made with a practical use in mind, I think our shibori dye projects were art. We made them just to make them, not to use them as a handkerchief or accessory, although they could be used for that.
A Hammerhead Shark and a Squid had a Child Made of Cotton
Turmeric, Cotton Cloth
For our natural dye project, we had two options: turmeric or pomegranate. I chose turmeric because I wasn't sure how the pomegranate would turn out, and I knew that the turmeric would be a bright yellow. It was also a lot easier to make. We used thin cotton cloth so that the dye could stain it more easily. It was a much smaller, see-through piece of fabric than the one I used for the shibori dye. I tied my fabric with rubber bands into a design that looked like a hammerhead shark and a squid had a child made of cotton. Then, all we had to do to make our turmeric dye was boil water and put turmeric powder in it. Once we'd done that, we put our fabric in the pot and let it soak for 3 hours. When we pulled the fabric out and took the rubber bands off, we got to see our designs. Mine made rings similar to my second shibori fabric, although this time, the rings were less defined because the dye was yellow. I think that this project was an art project as well, rather than a craft, because we made it to have an experienced dying with natural dyes. I am not planning on using mine for any practical purpose other than decoration.