when steph and i decided to start creating shibori/tie dye scarves last year we were so excited....we had no idea of just how much work there was, especially on a large scale.
i have to say though, that even though there is a ton of work, it is all worth it when you see how different methods of resist and color combinations work out and become beautiful creations...and every once in awhile....ewwww bad.
once our fabric is cut to size it must be washed to remove any of the sizing or chemicals so that the dye will take. we then either dye the piece a base color and then begin to band, tie, stitch, or use resist to create a design, or just dive right in to banding and stitching. this year we have been trying new things and finding out what is a no-no and what is a go.
the piece may be dyed and then over dyed 2 or 3 times. next it is set out on a table outdoors to spend a day , or two drying in the sun while it is still banded and stitched. then the rinsing process begins. we rinse each piece while still banded and stitched until the water runs clear. depending on the color and the amount of time we let a piece soak it can take up to 30 minutes or more for the water to run clear. by doing this it helps keep the piece from looking muddy.
now let the un-banding and un-stitching begin......this takes longer than the banding and stitching since you need to make sure you do not snip the fabric. this can take an hour on average for each piece.
another rinsing to remove any extra dye trapped in the layers of fabric while it was still banded and stitched.
next the piece is washed in a solution to help set the dye, then it is washed in laundry soap and oxy clean and dried.
now we are at the de-nubby-ing and de-gnarly-ing. all of that soaking, rinsing, and washing causes some of the threads to become a little unruly since we leave our edges unfinished.
this is just a tiny bit of the trimmed threads. i could so easily be a hoarder. the threads are so pretty it is hard to throw them away, but since i have no idea what i would do with them....in the trash they go. i so do not want to turn into the lady whose dead cat was found squished under a pile-o-crap. and yes, i probably will find some really cool neato thing to do with threads such as these next week...but i have saved a cats life by not keeping the threads, this time!
next, i removed the one selvage edge of the fabric....this treasure i kept as it is now a bunch of pretty ribbon that can be used in a multitude of projects.
we love a bit of wrinkle and crinkle to our scarves, so just the most wrinkly-est and crinkly-est of the edges get a bit of ironing. good thing i don't need to iron all 10 feet of each scarf, as i am allergic to ironing.
the ironing will be saved until the night before i do the photo shoot, and since it is suppose to rain through saturday, possible sunday i will be banding and stitching about another 15 - 20 scarves for a second batch, and good thing that i get to sit down to do most of the banding and stitching as the change in weather and my ear infection are causing the beast to behave most badly.
i do have to say, though, that the new found coolness in the temperatures we have experienced this week is so wonderful. i love having air conditioning, but it begins to make me feel like i am caged in after awhile, so having the windows open and feeling the breeze and hearing all of the sounds has been heaven....and now, at this moment hearing the patter of rain and smelling the cool, wet, earth is soooo wonderful.
i think that is about all for now. i hope you enjoy your day, and weekend. mwah!
