ideas + blue-stained fingers...

source: WildCraft Studio School

On April 15th, I spent the day in White Salmon, Washington with a group of amazing women and indigo-EVERYTHING. The day was led by Megan Mesloh of WildCraft Studio School at their White Salmon studio. In a total of 6 hours, we learned a brief history of indigo-dye, how to successfully dye with indigo and many traditional Shibori techniques. Shibori, for those who aren't familiar, is a technique that typically involves folding, clamping, twisting or binding and then dyeing with indigo to create the beautiful contrast you see below.

When I first became interested in textiles, dyeing and patterns, I was always drawn to this idea of creating from the start - finding your base (i.e. cotton yardage) and creating your end result (i.e. tablecloth). It seemed like an easy process, but what I didn't know was really how to get from point A to point B, not knowing the value and lessons of the process. 

Megan showing the group Sibori folding & restraint techniques.

The rich history of Japanese Shibori was mainly done on cotton, while more modern Shibori is done using many different materials and colors. Similar to how we as young children, tie-dye everything we can get our hands on. Learning the traditional way to dye opened up a new channel of interest for me and has provided numerous inspiration to my work.

Learning that anything, even scraps of wood and rubber bands, can be brilliant restraints.

The dye bath.

A piece of finished yardage!