The Japanese manual of tie - dyeing technique is popularly known as Shibori. This produces a large variety of designs and patterns on fabrics. This dyeing technique was introduced in Japan during the 8th century. The designers may fold, stitch, twist, bind or squeeze and compress clothes, to create different patterns and designs on the fabric. The techniques used in Shibori depends on the pattern desired and the fabric used.
Types of Shibori
- Kanoko Shibori - This is popularly known as tie-dye technique. In this method, certain sections are bound to achieve the desired pattern. The pattern is attained on how tightly the clothes are bound or tied and where they are dried.
- Kumo Shibori - This method involves pleating and resist bounds. To attain desired patterns, the fabric is pleated evenly and finely and then the cloth is bound in closer sections. Spider-like designs are achieved. This procedure can be very precise and thus produces a special kind of design.
- Miura Shibori - This method is popularly known as looped binding. This procedure includes the process of hooking the needle and plucking the sections of the fabric. A thread is looped around the fabric twice and no knot is used. This technique is easy to bind and unbind, therefore often used.
- Nui Shibori - This method is popularly known as stitched Shibori. A run stitch is done on the fabric and then pulled to gather the cloth. The thread should be tied tightly for the completion of the work. This technique consumes a lot of time and requires great variety and control over patterns.
- Arashi Shibori - This method is also known as pole-wrapping Shibori. Here, the fabric is rolled diagonally around the pole and tightly wrapped, threading up and down the pole. The fabric is then scrunched over the pole. Then it is resulted with a pleated cloth having diagonal designs.
- Itajime Shibori - This method is popularly known as shape-resist technique. The cloth is pressed between two pieces of wood and hung in place by strings. The shapes don't let the dye penetrate the fabric which is covered.
The style of Japanese Shibori was introduced and brought into India by Rabindranath Tagore, the great poet and the most popular Nobel Laureate. It started flourishing from the 20th century, and is now practiced in Delhi, Kolkata, Gujarat and Rajasthan but is far more developed in Japan. Designer boutiques in Kolkata too introduced Shibori patterns in their clothing and garments. Playing around with trendy colours, the patterns look both creative and amazing on Indo-western dresses, tunics and drape dresses. The artisans working specialise in this and therefore create magic on the fabric. Different techniques may give different patterns and techniques, but the part of mystery is that the Shibori artist can never be sure of the final look of the fabric, in the sense that no two pieces may be ditto alike. It's always an element of surprise for the artists as well as the clients.
Our designers at Mada Sasa love to play around with Shibori. So do our clients, as they love to carry our new styles, and discover themselves. We in turn enjoy creating outfits for them with Shibori, be it one piece dresses, tunics, cocktail party attires or any other Indo westerns.