Oh, such fun!

I had a brilliant day today at a shibori workshop in Cardiff. It was really relaxed with 7 of us in the class and we just played all day! Why isn't play a necessary part of being an adult? We seem to forget about it when we 'mature' and start to do sensible things like jobs but it's absolutely necessary to keep fun in our lives. I feel regenerated and lively after a day just trying things out, experimenting with different fabrics and different bits and bobs.

Here's what we did - no dyeing involved (apart from a few drops onto a pre-steamed sample). We took whatever we wanted - buttons, found objects, keys, screws etc. etc. - and tied them into bits of fabric. The fabric was then steamed in a basic kitchen steamer to heat-set the shaping and we un-tied the fabric to see the patterning that resulted.

I'm sorry that the images aren't great but I haven't worked out how to create a link to show larger images when you click on them! I'm sure I'll work it out in time. Anyway, this first image shows a sample that I hadn't finished on grey polyester satin. I was tying paperclips into the fabric and trying to cluster lots together to give a really textured look but I ran out of time. I'll finish this one at home. The green sample is actually green organza overlayed with purple net. It still has the items tied into it as it's wet and I'm leaving it to dry before removing and checking the shaping. I used a penny, a heart shape and a thimble.


Above are 2 samples that have been heat-set and untied. The one on the right has been coloured by the rusty bolts I used for shaping. The sample on the left was pressed after being untied to give it a different feel.


I distressed the organza before tying pennies in for this sample. I really like the results :)


This was an attempt at origami. The organza was folded inside a piece off paper for support and was heat-pressed after being steamed to try to make the creases crisper.

This last sample is still wet from the steamer so I'll leave it to tomorrow to untie everything. I also have 1 more sample that is drying over the bath as it's the one that I splodged dye onto. I'll let you know the results!