scarf Archives - Doris' Website

Hand Dyed Shibori Scarves – Part 2

The best part of dyeing your own fabrics are the beautiful colours you can mix.

**Rayon linen Itajime shibori turquoise scarf**

Turquoise and blue are beautiful together. I think this would pair nicely with a pair of jeans and navy blazer for the spring.

**Rayon linen Itajime shibori blue/gray scarf**

With the scarf above, I wanted to try to create a plaid design. This scarf was folded, wrapped and dipped three times. Each time, the resist I used was larger, covering up more of the scarf and the dye bath was intensified.

I will try this technique again, and try for a little more variation between the first two dye baths.

**Rayon linen Itajime shibori green/gray scarf**

A circular resist was used for this yellowish green and blue/gray scarf.

**Rayon linen Itajime shibori orange scarf**

Coral and brown are always a great colour combination. This scarf was tightly twisted before being dyed.

Cerulean blue and black used to dye the scarf above. The same twisting technique was used as in the coral and brown scarf, but, this was not twisted as tightly. You can see that the dye penetrated the entire scarf with no light spots.

**Rayon linen Itajime shibori parfait scarf**

The scarf above was dyed using the Parfait method described by Ann Johnston in her book: Color by Accident. The scarf was first submerged in yellow, then turquoise and finally in the gray. I love the colours together – it looks like two completely different scarves, when it’s folded in half.

All of these scarves are available for purchase: $40.00 each. They are 17″ wide and 70″ long. They are easy to care for: machine wash and air dry. They are a great way to add some colour to your wardrobe this spring!

Hand Dyed Shibori Scarves – Part 1

Fibre art / By dorisL

I love dyeing, the colours, designs and textures you can create by folding, scrunching and tying up fabric is limited only by your patience!

**Rayon linen itajime shibori fuchsia scarf**

I found some beautiful rayon/linen fabric that I sewed up into scarves. The fabric has a lovely drape and dyes beautifully.

**Rayon linen Arashi shibori pink scarf**

Rayon linen itajime Arashi pink scarf — **Rayon linen Arashi shibori pink scarf**

Each scarf is an original one-of-a-kind piece. Wrap them around your neck, twist them into a belt around your waist, tie them to your hand bag. They will add a dash of colour to any outfit.

**Rayon linen Arashi shibori wine scarf**

These rayon linen scarves were dyed using my favourite colours: fuchsia, pink and purple.

The scarves are 17″ wide and 70″ long and available for purchase at $40.00 each. They are machine washable and air dry.

**Rayon linen Itajime shibori pink/grey scarf**

**Rayon linen Arashi shibori purple scarf**

Next week I have more scarves in other colours to show you. Even though I love pink, I do like all colours and know how to mix them! 🙂

Indigo Dyeing Fall 2016 – scarves

Fibre art / By dorisL

I rinsed out a few of the scarves I recently indigo dyed. I couldn’t wait to see the designs created by the various resists I used.

Three of them are rayon bamboo. These scarves have a lovely drape and feel luxurious.

The indigo is a nice intense blue and each of the three scarves has very different patterning.

Itajime Indigo bamboo rayon scarf — **Itajime shibori indigo bamboo rayon scarf**

I especially like the design below, it is very angular and modern looking.

I also over dyed two viscose scarves. Earlier in the year, I dyed them with Procion Mx dyes. One was dyed in turquoise and the other in blue. The results for both scarves were very pastel and not to my taste.

Now they are a beautiful soft denim blue. They would look great with jeans, a white shirt and a blazer.

Snow dyed Shibori cotton scarves and Mandala

Fibre art / By dorisL

I dyed two cotton gauze scarves and one piece of pfd cotton at the same time. This is the last batch of snow dyed fabric for winter 2016!

My favourite Shibori technique is Arashi – where the fabric is wrapped around a pole, scrunched down and the dye applied. I wanted to try this technique in combination with the unpredictability of snow dyeing. I was very surprised and pleased with the results.

There is a lovely pattern on the gauze scarf created by the resist that looks feathers.

The other gauze scarf was loosely pleated along the length, twisted tightly and placed in the same tray. This scarf has more variation in colours where the red, yellow and blue dyes combined to make green, orange and browns.

The last piece I dyed was a metre of cotton folded into a wedge to create a beautiful Mandala.

This is a very vibrant piece that reminds me of a luscious slice of an exotic tropical fruit!

Arashi Shibori scarf or art?

Fibre art / By dorisL

My favorite fabric dyeing technique is Arashi Shibori. It creates such a gorgeous design. It can be bold with strong lines or delicate with fine veining. This burgundy silk scarf has the latter effect.

It would look lovely just hanging as an art piece.

It would be equally lovely hanging around your neck!

Green Shibori scarves

Fibre art / By dorisL

Dip dyeing, where you dip a piece of fabric into a dye vat is one of the easiest ways to dye fabric. Although it is uncomplicated, this technique provides endless variety of design fun.

I first saw this technique in Kim Eichler-Messmer’s book: Modern Color: an illustrated guide for modern quilts. In it she wrote about dip dyeing placemats and they were simply beautiful.

I’ve been experimenting with this technique and have two scarves to show you. The green scarf above was loosely folded, rolled and placed into a container of green dye. I left it until all the dye had been absorbed. This creates a striped effect with the fabric at the bottom of the container absorbing the most dye and is therefore the darkest.

In the plaid scarf, I first folded, rolled, and dipped the piece in a yellow dye bath. I dried the scarf.

The second step was to refold in the opposite direction, re-roll and re-dip in the second colour. This time I placed the scarf in a turquoise dye bath. I love the colour that is created where the yellow and turquoise intersect. It looks like a much more complicated design. I will be experimenting with dyeing more Shibori scarves in various colour combinations in the future.

Red Shibori scarves

Fibre art / By dorisL

It’s interesting how different these two red Shibori scarves look when they both started off in the same dye bath.

The design is very subtle on this scarf, giving it a delicate look.

More rows of stitching would make this design more defined and graphic. I will be experimenting with this on another piece.

The scarf below was dyed in the same red dye bath and then pole wrapped and dipped in black to create a very striking design.

**Red and black Arashi Shibori cotton gauze**

An intense black colour is difficult to achieve. I doubled the amount of dye powder and left the scarf in longer. In some areas of the scarf the black looks more like a very dark purple.

When I first began dyeing, I mixed red and blue dyes to create purple as you would when mixing paint. I did get a purple but it was very grapey! not really what I had intended. By mixing red with a small amount of black dye a deep rich royal purple is obtained.

I have a few more hand dyed scarves to show you next time.

Linen gauze scarves

Fibre art / By dorisL

My infatuation with dyeing has led me to experiment with fibres other than cotton. I was looking for a linen gauze to experiment with, when I came across Robert Kaufman’s Veneto Linen Gauze fabric. No one locally carried this fabric and I was hesitant to order it online without seeing and touching it.

Indigoseplinengauzeitajime — **Indigo Itajime Linen Gauze Scarf**

Luckily, Andrea, from On Blueberry Hill had used this linen gauze to make a scarf. She wrote about her experience in a post: Spring gauze wraps. The photographs of the Veneto Linen scarf and a Kokochi Double Gauze scarf she made were beautiful.

Indigo Itajime Linen Gauze Scarf Detail — **Indigo Linen Gauze scarf detail**

I contacted Andrea to ask about the weight, drape and her experience sewing with the linen gauze, explaining that I was interested in dyeing it. She very quickly responded and kindly offered to send me a piece so I could experiment!

Indigoseplinengauzekumo2 — **Indigo Arashi Shibori Linen Gauze Scarf**

The piece Andrea sent was large enough to make two scarves. I tried two different Shibori techniques. Itajime Shibori is when the fabric is folded and clamped with a resist before dyeing, Arashi Shibori is rolled and tied around a tube. The two pieces were then immersed in an Indigo dye bath. The experiment was very successful. I am happy with both of the results. The linen has a lovely drape and it accepted the dye very well, creating an intense blue with only a couple of dips in the dye bath.

Indigoseplinengauzekumo1 — **Indigo Arashi Shibori Linen Gauze Scarf detail**

I didn’t take a photograph of the linen before I dyed it, so if you hop on over to Andrea’s blog, you can see the base colour: flax. I love this natural warm colour with the blue designs running through it. This linen gauze is available in white which I think would also look great.

During my Indigo dyeing weekend, I also experimented dyeing a rayon/linen blend and silk fibres. I’ll have more photographs showing those results soon. What fibres have you tried dyeing?

Indigo dyeing weekend

1 Comment / Fibre art / By dorisL

I spent two days of the long weekend dyeing a variety of cloth with Indigo. These are just three of about 30 pieces I dyed.

This cotton square was first wrapped around an empty plastic serving thread spool, held with an elastic band and wrapped with thread.

**cotton cushion top unwrapped and untied**

When first unwrapped, it has a very sculptural quality. This will flatten out when it is washed and pressed.

**Indigo Nui shibori cotton cushion top string removed**

This cotton square was gathered on the diagonal and wrapped with long thin strips of fabric.

**Indigo Nui shibori cotton cushion top string removed and diagonal design showing**

I like to wrap the strips so that there is a little space for the dye to seep in. This creates some lovely lines.

**Indigo Nui shibori cotton/linen cushion top**

This cotton/linen rectangle was folded into thirds and triangles stitched across. There are three rows of stitching in each one.

**Indigo Nui shibori cotton/linen cushion top unwrapped**

Once unwrapped rows of squares appear in three rows.

There are heaps of washing and ironing in my future!

More hand dyed scarves

Fibre art / By dorisL

I am still having fun!

Dyeing pink circles scarf — **Pink circle cotton gauze scarf**

I have so many more ideas for dyeing that I am back to it!

This beautiful orange Arashi Shibori or pole wrapped piece unwrapped into a beautiful cream and orange scarf. It reminded my husband of a favourite childhood ice cream treat – the Creamsicle!

Dyeing creamsicle unwrapped — **Creamsicle cotton gauze scarf unwrapped**

Here it is partially unwrapped, once washed it is a softer colour.

I was asked to make a scarf similar to the Arashi Shibori scarf in raspberry that I wrote about in July. I didn’t keep track of the colours I mixed to create that shade and was challenged to recreate the colour.

They aren’t exactly the same, but very similar. When I first unwrapped the raspberry coloured scarf, washed and dried it, the colour and veining reminded me of radicchio. Radicchio is a beautiful Italian chicory lettuce that grows in a tightly wrapped ball. The leaf is a purpley red while the veins are white. Next time you are at the grocery store look for it – the colour is gorgeous.
I am also dyeing scarves in a silk/cotton blend and a linen/rayon blend. I’ll have more photographs of those scarves as well as some velvet that I’ll be making into pillows.

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