Shibori Archives - Botanical Colors

blue and white fabric dyed with radiating white circles

How To Make 3 Easy Shibori Resists

These three, easy shibori techniques work best with indigo, but can be used with other natural dyes as well. With all three techniques, before you begin, prepare your workspace for a messy process. Cover the surface you plan to work on with something you don’t mind getting wet and dirty and wear an apron and gloves. The Scrunch Dye your fabric in your dye of choice! After dyeing, rinse the bundle gently. Then remove the rubber bands and open up the fabric bundle. Rinse again until the water runs clear. Air dry away from direct sunlight. The Honeycomb Dampen your … Read more

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

This week: Resist dyeing resources and more

FEEDBACK FRIDAY: This Week in Natural Dye Questions

Each week, we are emailed with questions from our natural dye community asking simple and complex questions that we thought might be worth sharing. Here are a handful from this week answered by natural dyer in chief, Kathy Hattori, Founder of Botanical Colors: How do you keep dyes from bleeding into non-mordanted areas? I am finding that excess dyes deposit into white areas and I can’t seem to get them to wash out. Keeping undyed areas intact really depends on the technique you are using. If you are doing shibori work, it’s important to create tight resists. A loose resist … Read more

An Interview With Textile and Shibori Guru Joan Morris

Internationally acclaimed textile and shibori guru Joan Morris last visited us in 2015 and we are pleased to welcome her back to teach with Botanical Colors this July. Shaped-resist dyeing is an elemental textile art that is thousands of years old. In Japan it’s known as shibori, but it has been made worldwide for almost as long as dyes have been applied to textiles. Joan’s history with natural dyeing and textiles is extensive so we are lucky to catch her for an interview. Here’s what she had to say about the history of shibori, popular techniques and the best advice … Read more

EILEEN FISHER Learning Lab Event With Botanical Colors Indigo!

Shibori is a centuries-old Japanese method of dyeing cloth by binding, stitching, folding, twisting, and compressing. In this workshop featuring all Botanical Colors indigo dyes, participants will learn these basic techniques through demonstration and hands-on application. Utilizing recycled and reclaimed materials, participants will apply these decorative techniques to create their own unique piece. Tuition is $115 and includes materials, use of all tools, coffee, tea, and light snack not to mention just being in the amazing and beautiful EILEEN FISHER Learning Lab in Irvington. RSVP on the EILEEN FISHER Learning Lab page here! Instructor Jean Wasil is a graduate of … Read more