A Day of Intention
Let’s see what I get done….
Thank you for stopping by, it is much appreciated…
t r a c y
* If you like what I do, then others might too – thank you for liking and sharing *
My latest Rust fabrics available to buy.
Thank you for stopping by, it is much appreciated…
t r a c y
* If you like what I do, then others might too – thank you for liking and sharing *
My latest Shibori creations.
I have resisted the urge to spend time on stitched resists but think I might be hooked!
Have definitely fallen in love with this one which has already sparked an idea for another piece.
Thank you for stopping by, it is much appreciated…
t r a c y
* If you like what I do, then others might too – thank you for liking and sharing *
The combination of fancying a change and falling more in love with Shibori each time I play with the technique or learn more about the history has led to a change of photo here on my website, Facebook page and Twitter
You might recognise this photo from my stand at Harrogate recently and I really like it so this is the one I have chosen, hope you like it too.
I am in the process of photographing more of the unique Shibori pieces that will be available for you to buy at my next event which is scarily not far away!
Thank you for stopping by, it is much appreciated…
t r a c y
* If you like what I do, then others might too – thank you for liking and sharing *
I wanted to have some stitched Shibori pieces displayed on my stand at the Knitting & Stitching Show this month and this is a sneak preview of what I am currently working on.
My hands are bloody killing me with all this hand stitching but hopefully it will be worth it. No wonder I’ve never done it before!
If you are visiting the show then do come and say hello.
Thank you for stopping by, it is much appreciated…
t r a c y
* If you like what I do, then others might too – thank you for liking and sharing *
I have been playing with all manner of bits and pieces that will end up in my Shibori Journey book which I told you about in a recent post.
How much fun you can have with tooth picks, old printer ink cartridges, scraps of my Shibori fabric, bits of plain cotton, left over wadding pieces, needle, hand dyed string & thread, paper and used envelopes!
I will be using different kinds of blue in the book and am really pleased with how it is coming together so far.
For some unknown reason I have recently had the urge to do some hand stitching, which I have to confess, I am not very good at but I thought sod it, just have a go.
I am particularly fascinated by the plain old running stitch and how it is used to different effect by lots of fabulous textile artists. I am being drawn to this work more and more when visiting various exhibitions.
This little stitched piece using a scrap of Shibori, is one of my first attempts and has a place ear marked in the book.
I have also been working into some of the pages directly…
and I will be creating some loose pages which I will attach onto existing pages which are already sewn into the book.
Lots more to do before it is finished though!
Thank you for stopping by, it is much appreciated…
t r a c y
* If you like what I do, then others might too – thank you for liking and sharing *
I have to confess that I am totally in love with everything about Shibori.
Shibori is the universal Japanese word meaning ‘wring, squeeze, press’ and is an ancient method of manipulating cloth before dyeing it to produce all manner of glorious patterns.
Yes I love creating the cloth, playing with ideas and different ways of making patterns and then using it in projects but they are not the only things that fascinate me.
I have also enjoyed discovering more about the history of Shibori in Japan and one of the sources I came across is the World Shibori Network (WSN). It was founded in 1992 in Nagoya, Japan
“as a grass roots organization dedicated to the preservation of Japanese shibori and similar traditional techniques across the globe.”
I also love the ‘you don’t know what you’re going to get’ aspect which tests my Perfectionist Control Freak Streak!
There is a quote by Master Katano Motohiko on the WSN website which sums this up much better than I could.
The Japanese shibori dyer works in concert with the material, not in effort to overcome its limitations. An element of the unexpected is always present. All the variables attendant upon shaping the cloth serve to remove some human control from the shibori process.
An analogy is that of a potter firing a wood-burning kiln. All the technical conditions have been met, but what happens in the kiln may be a miracle or a disaster. Chance and accident also give life to the shibori process, and this contributes to its special magic and strongest appeal.
It is true the process is time consuming but I believe it is totally worth the results.
I am grateful that the knowledge and skills accumulated by the Japanese artisans over the many many years they practiced the art have been passed from generation to generation creating a rich 400 year history which we benefit from today.
As you know from other posts, I have been making projects using the hand dyed fabric I create to give visitors ideas of how they might use it.
Hand made books are a particular favorite of mine and I was really keen to make sure I captured the story of Japanese Shibori in some way as I discovered it, so (yes you guessed it), I made a book which some of you will have seen displayed on my stand.
The outer cover is made using the arashi technique which is pole wrapped fabric which I then free motion quilted using the pattern as my guide.
I made the fabric labels by stamping onto scraps of white cotton fabric and then stitching them to the cover.
The fabric on the inside cover was created with a folded clamp resist pattern. I then stamped on the names of different Shibori techniques.
The pages are made using various envelopes I received in the mail. Some of them have blue patterns on them which reminded me of shibori patterns. A paper bag also found its way in there aswell.
My plan is to add all sorts to the pages including information and photos about the history, scraps of shibori fabric I have created and maybe a couple of ‘shibori inspired’ pieces also using scraps of cotton fabric, oh and anything else that springs to mind.
I’m sure stitching and a glue stick will be involved along the way but I am going to try very hard not to over think this and keep my afore mentioned ‘Perfectionist Control Freak Streak’ in check!
Thank you for stopping by, it is much appreciated…
t r a c y
* If you like what I do, then others might too – thank you for liking and sharing *
Thank you for stopping by, it is much appreciated…
t r a c y
