my creative space: Shibori... a new obsession

Last weekend, my fellow creative obsessed friend, Jo from bubala and I went to Dye-linquent Shibori workshop at the Powerhouse Museum, which was run by the lovely Pepa Martin and Karen Davis from Shibori... It was SO much fun!

I didn't really know much about Shibori before I went, but WOW was I impressed! Shibori is a Japanese term for compressing fabric to create a resist when dying... read more about Shibori here! It's a bit like tie-dye but so much more interesting and a has really involved process, we used indigo dye which is really amazing and has such a complexity of the colour!  Pepa and Karen took us through the whole process and a number Shibori techniques! They are so passionate about what they do and it really shows...  they are just so inspiring!

I managed to do two pieces in the short time we had... only 2 hours!

:: Shibori - using rulers
- indigo dye on cotton - 65cm x 100 cm

:: Shibori - using rulers

:: Shibori - gathering stitch and triangle block
- indigo dye on cotton voile - 40cm x 100cm

:: Shibori - gathering stitch

:: Shibori - triangle block

I loved the fact that you never really know what you are going to end up with when you pull a piece out of the indigo dye vat! I am so happy with how they turned out! I'll be making some cushions with my creations!

:: my Shibori fresh out of the indigo dye vat
photo by Pepa Martin who kindly sent it to me...
she claims that she isn't a photographer :)

It was such a wonderful workshop! We had so much fun and we really wish we had more time to experiment! I haven't stopped thinking (and dreaming) about all the possibilities of Shibori... I can't wait to do some more! I think I may have a new little obsession :)

Hope you are having a great creative week!

There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

my creative space: wool before & after

It's taking me a while to get back into creative mode.. my brain is still on holiday... but I'm getting there slowly! I had the urge to do some dying! My gorgeous grandma sent me loads of wool last year when she found out I was getting into knitting and crochet.. love her! There were 6 balls of a terracotta colour which is not really my colour so I thought I would have a go at dying them!

:: terracotta wool - before

I used iDye and mixed the colour gunmetal and half a packet of navy together to make a grey blue.

I prepared the wool by winding into a loops and tying them up, then placed them in the dye bath and gently move them around... I was so worried they were going to get into one gigantic tangled knot! I used boiling water and I think the wool has shrunk a bit but not too bad! I also went a bit crazy and rummaged around my wardrobe to see what I could re-dyed... just couldn't help myself :)

I had no idea what colour the wool was going to turn out like... I was thinking I might have gone a brown but to my amazement it went this gorgeous deep aubergine.. I am SO pleased!

:: aubergine dyed wool - after

:: aubergine balls of wool :)

Hmmm... now what can I make with 6 balls of aubergine wool..?

Hope you are having a great creative week!
There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...