CRAFTS OF INDIA / SHIBORI / PROCESS -2

CRAFTS OF INDIA / SHIBORI / PROCESS -2

- The design is transferred onto a natural unbleached fabric and the stitching is completed.

- In the process of two-shade indigo dyeing, the cloth is first dipped into a vat containing the lighter shade of indigo.

- After the cloth has dried, tightening is done. It is then submerged in a vessel containing the darker shade of indigo.

- The area around the tightened thread gets crinkled and compressed and does not allow the color to leak in, hence allowing that portion to maintain the original lighter shade.

- According to shibori, the closer the stitches that are tightened into a knot, the larger will be the area where the color does not seep in. The fabric resists the dye along the stitch.

- All fabric that has been processed using the shibori technique will bear pinpricks where the design was stitched in. Held against light, the minute holes made by the needle should be visible.

- However, normal dyed cloth passed on as authentic shibori has dyed dots representing the stitch marks. As they are printed, they do not allow light to pass through.