Shibori Stitching and Natural Indigo
Saturdays, June 12 & 19 from 12pm-4pm
Class level: All experience levels welcome
Age requirements: 16 and older
Teaching artist: Jenny Knavel
Class fee: $150
This workshop will familiarize participants to a creative, multicultural practice that utilizes prominently plant-based materials. After the workshop, partakers will be able to replicate the techniques and processes covered. The vat-making method is safe for (supervised) children to use. The objective of this class is to introduce students to shibori and natural indigo blue. Shibori is a Japanese, manual, resist dyeing technique Students will use basic shibori stitching techniques and dye a cotton “sampler” and scarves. In this workshop, students will learn the fundamentals of: mokume, or wood grain, shibori, guntai, or military shibori, and karamatsu, or Japanese larch shibori.
Indigo is one of the oldest dyes used for textiles and printing. Artists and crafts people from many different countries have utilized this organic compound to create a distinctive blue color. We will prepare an organic dye vat utilizing indigo powder, an extract prepared from the plant Indigofera tinctoria. We will dye the prepared fabric in that vat.
Removing an item from the indigo dye-bath is stimulating and arresting. The color changes right in front of the dyer from greenish to blue. Additionally, revealing the patterns created through stitching and clamping is exciting and intriguing.
Students will be able to use the skills obtained in this workshop at home and combine with existing artistic practices. After completing this workshop, students will have a better understanding regarding stitch resist practices and indigo dyeing. All experience levels are welcome.
Class overview:
Investigate and experiment with the fundamentals of stitched shibori.
Instruction will be given on a creating a variety of patterns.
Dye scarves and cellose fabric in a plant derived indigo vat
Learn to create an indigo vat.
We will also discuss how best to treat the fabric after it has been dyed.
Required Supplies:
towels (3 hand towels, 2 bath towels)
clean gallon buckets (1-2)
kitchen gloves
seam ripper
scissors
Provided Supplies:
indigo vats
blank scarves
"prepared" sampler for learning shibori stitches
thread
needles
Optional Supplies:
Students may also bring in their own, clean, (relatively small) pieces of fabric for dyeing; however, because of the size of the vats, no yardage, please.
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Bio:
Jenny Knavel received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1997. She is currently a professor of art at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois, where she primarily teaches design and digital photography classes. In addition to teaching, she is an active artist. Her work has been juried into numerous regional and national and international juried exhibitions. In 2021, her artwork was selected to be on the cover of the SAQA Journal (Studio Art Quilt Associates). She had a piece included in the Second Biennial of Natural Dye exhibition, China Silk Museum, Hangzhou, China. She participated in the 40th annual Contemporary Crafts, Mesa, Arizona.