PRINTING WITH YUKATA KATAGAMI

This is a yukata stencil (katagami) from Kasuri Dyeworks. It's very large, about 4 ft long. 
 
This is a Perry Ellis Vogue pattern I've had for years (possibly decades) I always wanted to make it in some linen that's also been in the stash quite a while.

 In one of Diane Ricks' classes, the project was to print on fabric with resist and thickened dye, and then make a shirt out of it.  I don't have pictures, but this is how it goes. You lay down your fabric on a sheet of plastic, put your stencil on top of that, a blank silk screen on top of that and then squeegee Cleanline resist (or whatever you're using) through the screen and the stencil. Repeat the procedure until the design is the way you want it. It helps to sketch out placement before hand. I cut my yardage into 3 pieces: front, back, and a piece for the sleeves and collar. There was very little waste.

 The fabric has to dry thoroughly before the next step. You can use the time to mix your dye. We used Procion, I think I mixed Navy blue and Better Black. The thickener is sodium alginate. Don't forget to add the soda ash! You can soak your fabric in soda ash solution beforehand and let it dry, or add it to your dye mix directly. Then lay out your thoroughly dry fabric and start painting on the dye over and around the resisted areas. I used a big foam brush 

 

just brushing it back and forth, up and down. 

Once it's painted to your satisfaction, you lay another big sheet of plastic on top, and roll the whole thing up. Stick it in big plastic bag and let it cure over night. 48 hours is even better if you can wait!
Then you wash it out, dry it, and cut out your garment.

 

 front

 back

 

 side

 

I didn't have enough yardage to make the very wide facings, so used some cotton kimono lining I dyed with the same dye. (detail above)

 I found a nice nautilus shell button and used it to accent the patch pocket. And that's my shirt!

All the products--dyes, resist, soda ash, etc.--came from Dharma Trading. I do wish I had thought to take a photo of the finished yardage.

Shibori baby quilt

I actually finished something: a quilt for a baby shower.  The squares are 14", roughly the width of kimono fabric.  The light blue swirling patterned fabric is indigo-dyed cotton from west Africa, as is the dark blue fabric with "smoke rings".  The 2 pieces with what looks like small dots are Japanese yukata fabric, and the one piece with a floral pattern may be Chinese.  All are hand-dyed indigo shibori.

The African indigo-dyed textiles are "Adire", Japanese is "aizome".

The back of the quilt is vintage cotton kimono fabric, and the binding is cotton lining from another kimono. The batting is some red cotton flannel from the stash, just enough for this project.  After washing and dryer-ing the flannel, it didn't seem to shrink, but it did full, so even better!

Detail of front

Front

Back of Quilt

Detail of back

The quilt was well-received!  On to the next project ...