Fibers and Textiles
Mrs. Parker
Shibori Techniques, Dyeing Fabric, and Sample Information
Shibori:
Shibori is a Japanese word that means to wrap, bind, shape, or secure cloth before dying it. Shibori
requires the artist to treat the fabric as a 3 dimensional surface by folding, crumpling, stitching, binding,
and knotting. Shibori is known to create soft and blurry-edged patterns.
Shibori Binding Techniques;
1. Pole Wrap Dying - wrap, fold, or lay fabric around a pole. Wrap with string, thread or dental floss.
Push all of the fabric after it is bound together on the pole. Dye, and then unwrap.
2. Stitching – You can stitch multiple lines, shapes (no lucky charms), words, etc. into the fabric. Let
the ends of the threads hang off of the ends of the fabric. When done stitching pull threads tight,
then dye. When finished dying, carefully undo the threads, and cut them off/pull them out. (THIS
ONE WILL LEAVE TINY VISIBLE HOLES IN SILK FABRIC)
3. Folding – Fold the fabric any way you like. Bind with thread, floss.
4. Binding – Using Thread, bind (grab and wrap) an of the fabric, then have a loose area of thread,
and then grab more fabric bind and continue all over the piece. Circular binding is the most
common.
5. Pleating – Fold fabric back and forth (like making a paper fan /zigzag). Then bind/wrap thread
around the pleats. Binding can be done at even intervals or can be uneven.
6. Clamping- Fold fabric any way you like. Apply clamps to fabric, then dye. You can also place the
fabric in-between two blocks of wood, rubber band it all together, then dye. The tighter then
pressure, the less dye that will go into the clamped areas.
Other Dying/Surface Design Techniques (Not Shibori)
1. Rust Dying: Figure out if you want to fold or bunch the fabric. Place rusted items on or in pockets
of the fabric. Bind everything together. Spray with mixture of 50% Vinegar 50% water from
spray bottle. Let sit for 1 to 2 days. If you want a really dark rust color let sit for 4 to 6 days.
2. Painting on Fabric with Dye: Get some of the dye and put it in a little container. Get a brush and
paint a design (no lucky charms). Think lines, shapes geometric vs. organic, etc.
Resists
1. Use Elmer’s Clean School Glue: (Do not use on silk) Place fabric on plastic board. Create a design
with the glue on the fabric. Let glue dry overnight, then dye the fabric. Since this glue is washable,
hand wash fabric after dying to get the glue out. If the glue is still in the fabric, wash a second
time.
2. Flour Paste: Mix flower with water in a tub so that it is like pancake consistency. Lay fabric on
plastic (can be dyed or white). Pour the flower paste on top. Spread on top with a squeegee and
cover the entire surface. Draw in the flour paste if you want. Let the paste dry completely for 24
hours. Crackle the fabric. Use a wide brush and paint dye on to the fabric (put dye in a little cup
and DO NOT PUT BACK IN THE BUCKET). Let the dye sit on the fabric for a long time, then wash
with ONLY COLD WATER.
Vocabulary/ Terms:
Fiber Reactive Dyes: They are a class of dyes manufactured by only a few chemical companies. Trade
names for Fiber Reactive Dyes are Procian, Cibachron-F, and Fibrec. They are used to dye cellulose fibers
(cotton, rayon linen) following the cold-water recipe. The unique property of Fiber Reactive Dyes is that
they will bond chemically with the fiber molecule making the dye more lightfast and colorfast than most
other types of dye.
Immersion Dyeing: Immersing fabric into a bucket or washing machine filled with water, dye, and
chemicals
Overdyeing: Immersing fabric in a second dye-bath, usually a different hue, to achieve variation and
depth in the surface color.
Cellulose Fibers: Cotton, Rayon (comes from wood pulp) and Linen (flax plant)
Protein Fibers: Silk and Wool Fabric (from and insect or animal)
Synthetic Fabric: Man-made Fabric like Polyester, acrylic, nylon, spandex, and acetate (these look like
tiny pieces of plastic woven together). THESE WILL NOT DYE
Shibori: Shibori is a Japanese word that means to wrap, bind, shape, or secure cloth before dying it.
Shibori requires the artist to treat the fabric as a 3 dimensional surface by folding, crumpling, stitching,
binding, and knotting. Shibori is known to create soft and blurry-edged patterns.
Soda Ash/ Sodium Carbonate: pulls a hydrogen molecule from the fiber and leaves an oxygen molecule
which then reacts with the dye. The gradual addition of soda ash or soaking fabric in soda ash helps to
catch molecules that have not yet reacted. In all, soda ash helps open up the fibers so that dye can attach
to the fiber/cloth
Salt: This changes the ionic charge of the water and helps to push the dye particles into the fiber. The
gradual additions keep the pushing process going.
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Design and Great Composition Tips
What Not to Do….
No Lucky Charms on projects and no logos! No hearts, stars, moons, balloons, horseshoes, ying-yang
symbols, smiling suns wearing sunglasses, sports symbols, advertising logos (like the Nike Symbol), etc.
Make your project unique without using these cheesy designs.
How to Create a Great Composition:
1. Use the Elements and Principles or just pick a few you like and stick with them.
Elements of Art: How can these be incorporated on a Fabric Design?
- Line - Folding fabric specific ways will give you lines. What direction do you want lines to go in? You
can stitch lines into fabric too. You can bind fabric with string, which will create lines also.
-
Shape – Folding and clamping your fabric will create shapes. You can stitch shapes in your fabric.
You can paint shapes on your fabric with dye. You can use glue and draw on the fabric, then dye it,
and the shapes will the color of whatever you put the glue on top.
-
Color – How do you want to layer colors? Analogous (colors that sit side by side on the color wheel).
Contrasting (opposite colors), etc. Do you want the colors to give off a specific look? Example:
Greens and blues will look earthy vs. pinks and reds might look feminine. Do you want to use colors
that are inspired by a person, animal, decade, emotion, etc.?
-
Texture – When you bind your fabric, dye it, let it dry, and then undo the strings. It creates a texture
in the fabric. The texture can purposely stay there (never being ironed) which is an ACTUAL texture.
You can create Visual texture (texture that is seen and not felt) by using repeated techniques on the
fabric
-
Space - Positive space is the space we see as the colorful areas. Negative space is viewed as the white
space. How can you bind, fold, and stitch the fabric so that the positive and negative spaces interact
or create confusion?
-
Value-Placing your fabric in dye from smaller to longer amounts of time will create value. This
involves watching your fabric and pulling it out slowly so that you get a nice value scale with the dye.
Principles of Art
- Movement- Using lines and shapes in a continuous stream so that they create movement.
- Balance- There are 3 types of balance. Radial (circular), Symmetrical (same on both sides),
Asymmetrical (not the same). What type of balance do you want and what techniques will give you
that type of balance. Example: Folding fabric and clamping it in-between two blocks will give you a
symmetrical balance.
- Rhythm – Wrapping threads around the fabric can create a rhythm.
- Unity- Unity can be created by using similar colors on top of each other, repeating shapes, and lines
- Pattern – Repetition of lines, shapes, or colors
- Contrast – Opposite shapes or opposite colors
- Emphasis (Focal Point) – 1 large shape or area that stands out. 1 color that stands out among all of
the other colors.
PUT FIRST NAME ON ALL SAMPLES WITH SHARPIE
Dyeing Assignment Small Samples: 50 points (5 points each)
Complete all 6 Shibori Samples Below
____ 1 Pole Wrapped Sample 5 pts
_____1 Stitched Sample 5 pts
_____ 1 Folded Sample 5 pts
_____ 1 Binding Sample 5pts
_____1 Pleating Sample 5 pts.
_____1 Clamping Sample 5pts
Choose 2 of below samples 10pts
_____ Rust Sample
_____ Elmer’s Glue Sample
_____Painting on Fabric with Dye
_____Flower Paste sample
1 Large Sample:
20pts
_____ Choose 4 or more of the techniques above (all must be different techniques) and apply to your big
sample. Create a theme or mood within your sample.
List Techniques here:
1.
2.
3.
4.
List Theme or Mood_______________________________________________________
Final Silk Scarf: Must have 4 techniques or more. 30 points
Tips
- Using the “Shibori” techniques will give you the best effect
- Cannot use glue on silk
- Cannot use Bleach. Bleach on silk. Bleach will destroy the silk
- Stitching into silk will leave tiny holes
- The black dye will look differently on silk
- The flower paste will not work very well on the silk because it is so thin
- DO NOT IRON DIRECTLY ON SILK. Silk can melt/burn. Put towel or paper on top when ironing
List 4 techniques on Silk
1.
2.
3.
4.