Wednesday 3 August 2011

Shibori

On Saturday Kirsty and I went to Logie Steading to attend a Shibori class run by the very friendly mother and daughter team, Christine and (big!) Kirsty at Diva Design Studio

They explained everything very clearly and are obviously very knowledgeable about all felt-related matters.  If it wasn't so far from home we'd be going there very regularly!

We trapped marbles and beads in the wool and tied them with cotton.


Then we stitched wiggly lines all over the fabric.


Next we soaked the whole thing in soapy water to shrink it and firm it all up.


After a yummy lunch we coloured the piece with dyes.  This bit was especially good fun!



After steaming, rinsing, drying and popping out the marbles, this is how Kirsty's piece looked.


Finally we removed the visible stitches and either stuffed the marble holes with wool
or turned them into cups.


Here's Kirsty's finished piece...


...and here's mine - although I'm still planning to stitch some beads onto it.


After that we had a wander around the steading and its lovely location.



Kirsty and I enjoyed a fabulous treat - 4 days away by ourselves, staying in an excellent b&b, Woodside of Belivat, a few miles from Nairn.  It was more like a 4 star hotel than a b&b - can't recommend it highly enough!  We went for long walks, visited Cawdor Castle and several crafty shops and galleries, and ate lots of pizza!

Here's a pic of the b&b.



6 comments:

  1. Oh, lovely shibori work! I love the textures and colour graduations that can be created through this technique...Liz x

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  2. Wow! How cool is that? Your shibori creations are amazing - fab colours and textures....
    ...an exciting 4 day holiday together...
    ...and I would have commented sooner but I was checking out all the colourful goodies on the Diva Design Studio website!
    Another string to your family crafty bows!
    Keep up the great work!
    Ali x

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  3. ...by some amazing co-incidence my verification word was ghoti - if you take the gh as in cough (f), the o in women plural (i) and the ti in station (sh) you get fish!!
    Don't you just love the english sound system?!
    x

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  4. You can do this with any material, as I expect you realise, but also with paper.
    Margaret :-)

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  5. Oh wow! Paper?! Now that I'd like to try.

    Ali - turning 'ghoti' to 'fish' is quite an achievement - well done!!

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  6. What a gorgeous wee trip away you have had...and how amazing is that felt work?! Never heard of shibori but definitley looks like something I'd love to try! Beautiful colours..and Kirsty's talent never ceasing to amaze me :)x

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