potd - Arimatsu Shibori

I sell this indigo shibori-dyed cotton yukata fabric by the metre ($25/m). It comes from Arimatsu  near Nagoya which has been a centre for indigo cotton shibori since 1608. Most of these haven't been steamed flat after dyeing and still have a wonderful crinkly shibori texture.  The texture will fall out if you aren't careful with washing and drying - or you can iron it out if you prefer.

potd - Silk Shibori

More silk kanoko shibori from Kyoto. My customers are mostly buying this to make scarves.

potd - Silk Shibori

Sorry I haven't been very diligent with my photos of the day! here are some silk shibori kimono fabrics...

potd - Indigo Shibori

I just put out some more rolls of indigo cotton shibori. To be made into usable  yukata (cotton kimono) fabric these would be steamed and stretched -  and lose much of the texture they have now. In their scrunched up state they're popular here for scarves - though I always warn customers that some colour might rub off (crocking).
The centre for this type of shibori since the 17th century has been Arimatsu  in Aichi, now part of Nagoya, where you can have classes in shibori dyeing.

 

 

 

potd - Kanoko Shibori

I'm just putting out more silk kanoko shibori kimono and haori fabric...

potd - Sekka Shibori

Sekka  (snow flower) shibori  is made by folding the fabric and clamping between boards (itajime) before dyeing. It's done on a quite open weave white cotton fabric and was traditionally used for nappies and some  simple clothing. We just got in this beautiful full roll. I spend my days with indigo fabrics but rarely as vibrant as this...

More about sekka shibori here.

potd - Shibori

A basket of silk shibori oddments...

potd - Pink Shibori

It's very grey here for the first day of summer... here's some kanoko shibori to brighten things up.

potd - Shibori

I'm having fun today opening up a new shipment that arrived yesterday including some rolls  of wonderful silk shibori....

Shibori Nagajuban

Today I'm having a display to coincide with the handmade market in the hall next door. I have a small collection of shibori-dyed nagajuban  undergarments.  These are the traditional equivalent of a petticoat. The collar is usually a plain white cotton which allows a han-eri collar to be tacked on, which is then visible at the neckline of the kimono. These  are all nagajuban from the early-mid 20th century.

 

. Shibori literally means' to squeeze'  and includes a wide variety of resist techniques involving tying, stitching, folding,  wrapping or clamping the fabric before it is dyed. It has traditionally been used on a range of textiles from fine silk kimono through to the simple home-dyed cotton nappies that I showed here a couple of weeks ago.

  There was a tradition in Japan of wearing very rich and often colourful linings and undergarments. This developed largely in the Edo period (1600-1868) when there was a series of sumptuary laws which attempted to control what fabrics, colours and designs different classes of people could wear. The growing merchant class  has the money but not the official status to wear rich, silk fabrics and so these would be worn on the inside or under their kimono where they couldn't be seen...except by those who knew them well.  The nagajuban here are example of  the continuing influence of this tradition in the early -mid 20th century. Sadly the tradition died out in the post war years and  nagajuban now tend to be bland white and pastels.

 

 The sleeves and lower half of the next one are wool 'mosu' (Japanese muslin) printed to look like stitched shibori. The upper half is actual shibori on a cheap cotton. 

 

The next one  has been made from fabric oddments. The sleeves are kimono silk the bottom half is a wool or wool blend nagajuban fabric and the upper half ia shibori dyed cotton and probably quite a bit older than the other pieces

 This patchwork nagajuban has been pieced from remnants of kanoko silk shibori, most of these have been hairbands used in traditional Japanese hairstyles.

Sekka Shibori

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 shows half the length.

This nappy would date from the early 20th century but this style of nappy (though not beautifully hand-dyed!)  is still used in Japan . It is folded into a pad and used with a nappy cover. I used them for my first child but the fabric was so thin I didn't find them very practical after a few months of age! Nappies were also traditionally made from remnants of old cotton clothing and household textiles, a dyed one like this would most likely have been a gift.

The next one is a nappy but the seam has been unpicked so it is a single length of fabric - this photo also shows half the length:

The next piece of sekka shibori is pieced together from a baby's kimono. The fabric is a very soft open weave cotton which was often used for clothing for babies. Soft white cotton garments are still popular for newborns.  You can see the T shape cut where the collar has been.  It may have been pieced back together to re-use as a nappy though it is a little longer (160cm) than a usual nappy.

 

Here's a short  explanation of how sekka shibori is dyed:

Cloth is folded into wide vertical pleats. The pleated cloth strip is then repeatedly reverse folded, either horizontally or diagonally, into a square, rectangular or triangular form. This creates a neat bundle of folded cloth  that is fitted between boards or sticks, held in place with a cord, and dipped selectively in the dye. The multiple folds create simple geometric patterns, and the dye is drawn into the folds, creating a distinctive soft-edged effect.  

(from:  Wada, Rice and Barton, 'Shibori: The Inventive art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing ')

In Store....

I'm always adding new fabric to the shop. I love this old lining fabric:

 

This is a beautiful piece of  indigo katazome with a wonderful handwoven texture:

 

 

A stunning double-width shibori lining silk:

 

 

Cheery yukata cotton on the roll:

 

 



And a couple of kimono silks on the roll:

 

 

 

I've got some new indigo quilting fabrics but there will be a limited supply of these - some of our other quilting fabrics in traditional patterns will run out even sooner. Unfortunately our supplier says they're just not popular anymore. I'm not sure why because they're timeless patterns and always popular in the shop:

 

 

Today I'm putting out some more small kokeshi dolls:

 

 

Including some 'creative kokeshi':

 

 

I love this Arimatsu shibori yukata:

 

 

This is a very sweet  netsuke: