Paper lanterns

These are some prototypes for vat-dyed, shibori lampshades made for my final project in Surface Design.

I received a very generous donation of assorted fine papers from Yvonne Wakabayaski http://www.yvonnewakabayashi.com/ and I wanted to test the limitations of each type of paper. I started with some origami folding for tesselation patterning, which I could not get to work on any of the papers. I went on to fold and clamp the paper before dipping them in various vat-dyes. Some paper stood up very well in cold water vat dyes, but didn't do as well in the warm indigo vat. To my surprise the most delicate-looking paper was the most durable.

 

 

 

 

 The truncated doctahedron shape is my favourite; it looks like it belongs in Doctor Who...especially when you adjust the picture like this!

And it's very spacey-looking at night...

 

Itajime and Indigo

I want to make some curtains, similar to traditional Japanese noren, to hang in the doorway between our kitchen and livingroom (I ended up using them for the doorway to the balcony instead).
Using a shibori technique called itajime, where the fabric is first folded and then clamped, I dipped the cloth in an indigo vat. The pattern is called kikko (tortoiseshell) and it makes a hexagon shape.

Itajime (board clamping)

After the indigo has oxidized, the clamp and boards are removed

I learned a lot from my mistakes with this project, for instance I waited a mere 24 hours before washing the fabric, so they faded a fair bit. (For optimal results, you should wait a week before washing) And I think the panels would match up better if I sewed them first and then did the clamping and dyeing. Also...and this is embarrassing...I cut the fabric the wrong way, so they don't drape properly. The bright side is that they allow lots of light to filter in while giving me optimum privacy from our neighbours!

Indigo Dyeing

Here are some images from an indigo dyeing session at home on the balcony. I opted for the synthetic indigo from Maiwa and I was really happy with the vat!
I wanted to try dyeing some natural cotton yarn and make some lace placemats (pattern by Carol Strickler from Best of Handwoven - Top Ten Placemats ) for my mom for her birthday.

 'Indigo white' vat

 

  

Couldn't resist dyeing a few shirts...

 Here are the completed placemats. I dyed the cotton in two shades of indigo blue; a lighter one for the warp and a deeper shade for the weft.

After finishing these I wanted to make another set for my mother-in-law. This time I thought I would try a natural coloured warp and a darker indigo for the weft.

 I like the appearance of these ones. I think the contrast of dark and light make them more  visually interesting; they look somewhat French Provencal to me.