Preston Embroidery and Textile Group
  • Who we are
  • Notices
  • Blog
  • Forthcoming Events
  • Gallery
  • Other News
  • Links
  • Location
  • Contact Us
  • Join Us

November 2016 - Dayschool with Gill Ferguson - Shibori

9/11/2016

0 Comments

 
Several 'suitably covered' ladies met for the workshop. We had been told to expect a messy time and were not disappointed!
Gill started by showing us a beautifully dyed silk hanging to whet our appetites. She told us that she was primarily a felt maker but also did printmaking, so she worked across different textile techniques.
Picture
Then Gill showed us how to set up a dye bath using the ingredients laid out on our information sheets namely: 5 litres of warm water, 60g of washing soda crystals, 10g Hydros and 15g of Indigo VAT  60% grains. She stirred the mixture, covered it with a lid and left it to stand for one  hour.
While we waited Gill showed us some lovely samples of what could be achieved by using the resulting dye. She explained that Shibori was a Japanese term  for dye resist technique of gathering, folding, clamping and tying in different objects before dyeing fabrics
Some samples were  made by sewing running stitches across the material and pulling up tightly(a lovely wood grain effect was produced). This was called ‘Mokume’.

She suggested it was a good idea to plan your design before starting.
She told us about ‘Arashi Shibori’ using a pole to bind material and also ‘Itajime’ using folding and clamping with boards and binding objects into fabric with different sized threads and ropes.

Everyone was raring to go by this time and we all set to work deciding what to tie or sew up. The sewing took so long to do that some people started it then tied up objects and tried out other methods in between preparing the sewing or ‘Mokume’.  
The dye bath was soon full of peculiar looking white bundles, gradually turning green or blue. The green colour became blue after a minute. The pieces had to be left in the dye bath for five minutes maximum and then taken out with tongs and put into a jug (to prevent drips) and rinsed under the tap until the excess dye colour had disappeared.
It was amazing how quickly this happened and soon the window sills and radiators were full of wonderful pieces of indigo coloured patterns of every kind.

We noticed that the dye in the bucket produced a lighter colour as time went on. 
Gill set up two other buckets of mixture during the day and we all continued to dye everything in sight. I even dyed my apple by mistake at lunch time!
At the end of the day there were rows of beautiful pieces on display.  For me the star prizes went to Brenda with her tee shirt and trousers, beautifully dyed in symmetrical patterns and Carole with her lovely folded silk scarf.  We all went home with a great sense of satisfaction.

Thank you Gill.



Meantime in the CLEAN backroom the ladies were hard at work embroidering lovely tablecloths, bags and books, flowers and a beautiful felt pillow.  It is amazing the variety of work carried out in this well behaved room!

The Travelling Books group displayed their books for the last time. Carolynne Parkinson gathered them in for her husband Mark to photograph and produce a DVD of every page (that in itself will be a mammoth task) as a lasting souvenir of each other’s work.
And finally several exhibition pieces were displayed to encourage and remind everyone our exhibition is only a few months away.
Thanks to Irene Pugmire for writing this months blog and Kath Howarth who has helped to set it up.

Ann Reading and Kath Howarth
0 Comments

    Archives

    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    Posts prior to Feb 2013

    For posts prior to February 2013 please click here.

    Categories

    All
    Local News
    Workshops

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.