Shibori is a traditional Japanese form of textile dyeing. Using string and silk, tis technique creates beautiful fabric for creating pillows, or incorporating into scarves, home décor items, or even scarves!

large wine or other glass bottle

Pre-washed silk: the width of the bottle and 24” 62cm long

Rubber gloves

Buckets for dye mix

String of desired thickness to wrap around bottle

Fabric Ready dye or Acid/fiber-reactive dye

Masking tape

Long handled wooden or stainless steel spoons for mixing

Long handled measuring cup or ladle

*Acetic acid or vinegar( for acid based dyes only)

Assemble your materials. You can use either acid or fiber-reactive dye with this technique.

With a bit of masking tape, secure the tip of the silk(silk-satin is being used here) to a clear glass bottle. Using your string, wrap the thread around the bottom of the bottle several times, catching in the tip of the fabric. Try to use a length of fabric no more than 24 inches(62cm) long. If th fabric is much longer, it will wrap around the bottle too many times, thus making it difficult for the dye o soak through the fabric evenly.

Wrap the silk around the bottle,securing it as you go with several rotations of thread. For symmetrical designs, wrap the thread around the bottle at even intervals(the closer together, the finer the dye lines will be in the finished product).

Holding the bottle firmly with one hand, use the other hand to gently and firmly twist the silk and push it up toward the top of the bottle. Tiny ripples of pleats will begin to appear.

Continue twisting and pushing until the entire piece of silk is pleated.

Holding the bottle by the neck, submerge it in the dye. You have several options at this point, depending upon how many colors you are using and how intense/saturated you want your colors to be. If, for example you want a light color, dip the bottle in as far as you desire and hold it there until you have achieved the shade you like. For a more intense saturation, leave the bottle in the bucket longer. Because an empty bottle will float and bob, you may want to fill the bottle half way with water too keep it submerged to the desire level. If you do not want to dye the entire piece at once, invert a glass bowl of the desired height in the bottom of the bucket, and rest the wrapped bottle on it.

Another option for applying the dye is to submerge the bottle upside down, allowing its edge to rest on top of the lip of your pot or bucket. This will keep the bottle at an angle, thus producing interesting oblique lines in the fabric. Think in advance about color combinations so that you will know where to dip first, you could then dip the top in blue to get green, and dip the bottom in red to get orange. It really helps to know some color theory so that you don't end up with some ugly shades.

Instead of, or in addition to dipping, the dye can be poured directly over the bottle while it is held over the dye bath. This builds up the color gradually and produces subtle gradations of dyes from several different buckets of different colors.

Remove the masking tape from the top and bottom thread. Gently unroll the silk and the thread. The fabric will be delicately pleated. The pleats will stay in the fabric for a long time if the fabric is first dried on the bottle before unwrapping. (They will fall out if the fabric is washed wet again). Otherwise you can iron them out.)

Detailed shot of the un-ironed, dry silk. Notice the fine white lines that show where the thread resisted the dye. (An interesting variation on this technique would be to use a discharge solution instead of dye, and black or dark colored cloth instead of white. Wherever you tied the cord, you would end up with a very fine black, rather than white line.)

Iron out the pleats if desired. “Certain shibori artists like to leave the pleats in the fabric as part of their signature look.

Find this project and many more textile dyeing techniques by purchasing “Textile Dyeing” by Kate Broughton. It covers textile dyes, techniques and tools, painting on fabric, tied-resist/tie-dye techniques, batik techniques, block printing, marbling, color theory, and dye mixing!