Itajime

I've written quite a lot about the thiox dye vat and some of its challenges, so now it's time to say a bit more about some of the shibori techniques that I've been playing with.  Itajime, or clamp resist, involves accordion pleating combined with the use of various clamped objects to make patterns.  Traditionally, flat pieces of wood in different shapes provided the resist, but acrylic works even better, since it doesn't soak up any dye.  I mainly use acrylic quilt templates or rulers, since I managed to buy a cheap supply from Dressew, plus others at half price from Jo-Ann when I was in the States a while back.  That was before I discovered r0ssie, an Etsy seller who cuts acrylic specifically for itajime.

For a lengthier description of the folding and clamping process, see Kaizen Journey's instructions here and here. 

Here are some before and after shots of itajime pieces from my first dye vat.  The first photo shows the folded and clamped fabric after several dips in the dye bath:

I bought a couple of cheeses that each came wrapped on a piece of balsa wood, so I saved the wood for itajime.  I used rubber bands in order to get a bit of resist on the edges.  Here's how the fabric came out after unfolding:

Here's the same clamped piece, along with two others, during the oxidation process:

The middle piece is a half-yard pleated and clamped between two 3x9 inch rulers, while the one at the bottom is my beloved "windows" fabric, clamped with a square quilt template, two pairs of chopsticks, and a pair of popsicle sticks.

Here are the end results, set out to dry and aerate:

Note some of the greenish tints on the second piece, where the indigo hasn't yet oxidized completely.  The color transformation is so endlessly fascinating.  I love indigo dyeing!