ctnsenior style editor Morgan Michener loves the graphic yet soft-edged look of this traditional Japanese tie-dyeing, so she decided to make her own shibori-inspired speckled pillow covers (far left pillow). Here’s how:
Materials as well as Tools
Cotton
Silk or wool
Kosher salt
Sodium carbonate
Two plastic buckets
Twine
Fabric dye
Step 1: wash as well as cut fabric. select a natural material like cotton, silk or wool; synthetics won’t take dye as well. wash the material without soap to remove sizing (coating) as well as let dry. cut material into 24″ squares as well as save all scraps for test-dyeing.
Step 2: wet the material in a water bath of water, kosher salt as well as sodium carbonate (available at dye or craft stores) in a plastic bucket, then wring out so it’s damp. (This will prep the material to take dye.)
Step 3: Lay material out flat as well as place a 1″ or 2″-diam. dowel or plastic pipe at one edge, on an angle. Roll the material onto the dowel or pipe.
Step 4: tie one end of the dowel with twine to secure material to dowel. continue to wrap the twine around the dowel at regular intervals, then tie off at the other end. push the material down towards one end of the dowel so it bunches up around the twine.
Step 5: Prepare dye bath according to instructions on material dye. I used Procion MX as well as mixed a dye bath of material dye, water, kosher salt as well as sodium carbonate in a second plastic bucket. Dip a 1″-wide sponge brush into the dye as well as use it to draw vertical stripes along the fabric, running parallel to the length of the dowel or pipe.
Step 6: let dye soak into material for 5 minutes. stir the dye bath, then provide the stripes one more coat of dye with the brush.
Step 7: Leaving the twine in place, put the dowel in a microwave-safe bag or bowl covered with plastic wrap as well as microwave each material square on high for 5 minutes. Unfold, rinse lightly as well as let dry. sew the finished squares into simple knife-edged pillow covers as well as fill with inserts.