Dyeing with Shibori – a Wonderful Halo Effect

An April workshop with Pavlos Mayakis at the Mendocino Art Center (MAC) was on over-dyeing fiber reactive dye with vat dyes – two chemically different systems – to create brilliant areas with halos where the colors met. After soda-soaking and dyeing fabric with fiber reactive dyes, we worked with methods for tying and clamping resists.

 

Pavlos-comp1On the left, the workshop in action in the Textile and Fiber Studio. On the Sunday, the final step, which was surprisingly quick, was to tie or clamp the fabric and put the bundles in the Aljo vat dyes for 5 to 15 minutes. The new colors replaced the fiber-reactive colors that weren’t protected by resists, leaving white halos. On the right, workshop instructor Pavlos Mayakis with finished fabric piece.

fabric dyed with fiber reactive and vat dyes

Piece of my fabric from the halo workshop.

Dyed first with red and magenta fiber reactive dye, then tied and dyed in green vat dye.
3shibori Tying some of the original white fabric for the fiber reactive dye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4intodye
Dyed fabric that has been retied and is going into the vat dye.

dyeing with shibori

Taking bundle of fabric from the vat dye.

 

The same bundle as it looked when it came out of the vat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6halo_pieces

The one on the left was shown above, going into/coming out of the vat dye.

7Jan
Jan opening up her first finished piece.

8Ben
Ben with one of his over-dyed works.

]9scarf
An over-dyed silk scarf hanging in the window of the Textile and Fiber Studio.