How many of you LOVE shibori, would love to learn it yourself, but have put it in the ‘too-difficult-to-do-at-home’ category? I’m one of them. I love trying my hand out at different DIY… to be honest, different easy DIY. There’s no way I’m going to 8 different shops to collect 80 different items for a DIY project that will take a week to complete. I thought shibori would be a complicated, long winding process too. After meeting Tushita, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was not. So today Tushita of Pixie Dust will show us how to make a DIY shibori throw. 

Let’s Meet Tushita:

Tushita Gupta, an extremely talended textile artist and fashion designer, has always been creative and loved working with colours and textiles. She did her textile design from Sophia Polytechnic and started working in the fashion industry. But her dream was always to start her own set up, work with her hands and explore her creativity. She soon quit her job and launched Pixie Dust. From personalised bags and diaries to hand painted umbrellas, they have done it all. As she did more work, and curiosity about her craft grew, she decided to start doing workshops to share her love for textiles with everyone. Today she has very generously decided to share her knowledge with us too.

DIY Shibori Throw:

First, a little secret. that’s not a throw that Tushita has made.. it’s actually a scarf. Being the decor buff that I am, in my head I imagined it on the arm of a sofa long before I imagined it around my neck. Also, being the proud decor blog that we are, we don’t make scarfs. We make throws. So let’s learn how to make that DIY shibori throw. We’ll start with my first question to Tushita.

How is Shibori different from tie-and-dye?

Shibori is a Japanese dyeing technique which also includes tie-and-dye, but is not restricted to it. The fabric can also be folded, twisted, pleated, clamped or stitched before it is dyed, to produce an enormous range of designs. Different blocks, shapes… even ice-cream sticks, can be used to create a whole range of patterns.

What Tushita is teaching us today is the basic technique, similar to tie and dye. A lot more techniques and patterns can be learnt in her workshop.

What We Will Need:

• Cotton ‘mul’ cloth of required size
• Thread for tying
• Permanent cotton dye (available at craft stores)
• Salt
• A large vessel with water
• A gas or induction stove
• Large plastic sheet

Ok, so let’s get started.

(1) Prepare the Cloth:

Wash the cloth to remove all starch from it. Bead or hem the edges so that they do not fray. We’re now ready to work with it.

(2) Tie the Thread:

The type of thread you use will depend on the type of design you are looking for. For a finer, more delicate design, use a fine thread. Tushita prefers working with thicker thread, because the texture of the thread comes into play and adds to the design too.

Start from the centre of the cloth. Pick it up in a pinch and tie the thread around the peak in tight circles. You must tie the thread as tight as possible, so that the dye does not leak through the thread into the tied area of cloth.

Continue doing this at intervals along the length of the cloth, till you reach the bottom. Tushita likes to tie the threads at irregular intervals to make the design more unexpected and interesting.

(3) Prepare the Dye:

Use a large vessel with enough water to completely immerse your tied piece of cloth.

Heat the water and add the dye to it. Use approximately 1 packet of dye for 1 meter of cloth. Add 2 large serving spoons of salt to this and bring to boil.

(4) Immerse the Cloth:

Once the water is ready, turn the heat to medium and gently lower the tied cloth into the dye till it is fully immersed in the dye.

Allow the cloth to rest in the water for 2 to 3 minutes.

(5) Remove the Cloth From the Dye:

Gently remove the cloth from the dye. Hold for about 30 seconds till the extra water drips off.

Then lay the cloth on a plastic sheet and allow it to cool for about half an hour.

(6) Untie the Thread:

Now gently snip off the end of the thread…

… and begin to unwind it.

(7) Rinse Under Water:

Once all the thread is out, rinse the cloth under running water to remove excess dye. Do not use soap or rub the cloth. Gently squeeze out excess water and hang to dry.

Your DIY Shibori Throw is Ready!

That’s it.. your DIY shibori throw is ready.

You can add poms-poms or tassels at the ends or use as is… either way, it’s beautiful! Notice the patterns made by the texture of the thread itself.

Use it as a throw on your sofa…

… or bed

… or pretty much anywhere to show it off!

But There Is More!

Like we said earlier, what you learnt here was just the basic tie and dye technique. At the workshop, you will learn many more shibori techniques that can help you make so many exciting designs.

Tushita holds these workshops regularly, with one coming up this weekend. You can click here to register.

Tushita holds other workshops such as silk shibori, traditional and Malaysian batik and is soon planning to start workshops on screen printing and hand weaving. Do follow her page, Pixie Dust, to get updates on the latest. You can also contact her to hold private workshops for a minimum of 10 people for parties and events.

There’s a whole world of textile design to be explored.. let’s get started!

For those of you who prefer watching the whole process on video, as always, here it is.

I really hope you enjoyed this exciting DIY. When you try it out yourself, do let us know how it turns out in the comments below.

Until next time,