A few Sundays ago two of my nieces and I embarked on a little road trip to Rhode Island to take a shibori indigo dyeing class at the Wilson Collective with Rhonda Fargnoli. Rhonda and I met at Stitches East a few years ago, and I’ve admired her dyeing since.
As we folded and tied and stitched and knotted the silk scarves that we were dyeing, Rhonda shared images of beautiful textiles to help us understand the history of indigo and shibori.
It occurred to me that in making the scarves, I upheld, and even deepened, my ethical elegance values. By using ancient techniques and indigo, a dye that has been honored throughout history, I connected to generations of people hand crafting to beautify textiles.
And, let me tell you, was it ever fun!
Interested in your own shibori indigo dyeing project? Here are some resources:
- Contact Rhonda at the Wilson Collective to find out when her next class is.
- Not in New England? CreativeBug’s shibori dyeing class will get you started.
- Honestly WTF’s excellent tutorial shows a variety of ways to manipulate your textile.
Have you tried this method? Tell me how you liked it!
I’ve never tried dyeing of any kind, but I certainly admire those shibori pieces… looks like y’all had a very fun day!
Ooooo! What fun! 🙂