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Home » forums » What I'm working on right now

Rope Wrap Shibori

Last year I spent a lot of time trying to create 'pole wrap shibori' shirts... finally ended up wrapping around a 5 gallon bucket from Home Depot! But it was a pain, and used a lot of sinew. I recently got a dyers book that showed how to wrap fabric around a large diameter rope, and the results were similar to what I had been trying to achieve with my prior experiments. Well, yesterday I gave it a try on a t-shirt. Here are the results:

[I edited to make the picture fit on the page; click on the image to see the full-sized version, so you can see the fine details. -P.]

I really like the markings I got, and will most likely do a bunch more! I may have to go back and get some more rope! I didn't take a picture of the rope, but it's 3/4" diameter nylon rope, and I bought a 4 foot section, which is plenty big to do a shirt. I simply dampened the shirt, rolled it onto the rope, added a couple of rubber bands to the ends and middle, then scrunched the shirt together. Then I poured the dyes on, let it sit an hour, added soda ash solution for an hour, and it was ready to rinse/wash. Simple!

By tiedyejudy at 2010-07-09 06:53 | What I'm working on right now | login or register to post comments | previous forum topic | next forum topic

rope shibori by Judy

I enjoyed your rope tutorial and have tried twice. Both times I cannot seem to get the color even from to side to side. So the second time a turned it around and rolled from top to bottom, almost like a gradation and figured if light at top ok. And I even squeezed the dye after dying. All that did was take away the scrunch detail on the bottom and the top still was way to white. Any thoughts? Thanks, Elizabeth

By eperry at Wed, 2011-07-20 18:33 | login or register to post comments

Rope Wrap shibori

Hi, Elizabeth. My experience is that one side of the garment, the side closest to the rope, will always be lighter than the outer edges. You might want to be sure you are wrapping loosely around the rope. How did you apply the dyes? I pour from a measuring cup, lightest color first, then medium, then darker. And was your garment damp when you applied the dyes? That helps the dyes to migrate through the layers. And how long did you batch? I usually leave the shirt at least an hour before rinsing and laundering. But do expect a paler side. Here is a picture of a sarong I did recently, and you can see the lighter side pretty well here:

Keep at it, and I'm sure with a little practice you will get the look you are trying for.

Judy

tiedyejudy's shop
http://www.tiedyejudy.artfire.com
blog: http://hippiewear.blogspot.com
"Life without tie-dye is waaaaaaaaaaaay dull!"

By tiedyejudy at Thu, 2011-07-21 07:18 | login or register to post comments

ropw wrap shibori

Thanks for the pointers. I did use damp fabric, and I did it with soda ash soaked fabric and applied the dyes directly with squeeze bottles. I don't think it was too tight, and batched at least 48 hrs. Will keep working on it , your's are beautiful.

By eperry at Thu, 2011-07-21 13:49 | login or register to post comments

ruching?

Wow, that's really beautiful, Judy.

Except for being much more beautiful, it looks a lot like a shirt I did once, which I think was called ruching: roll the shirt around a length of string, then pull the string tight and tie it. Mine came out with nice details, similar to the markings on your shirt, but the overall large-scale effect was of horizontal stripes, which was unfortunately unflattering on me, instead of your lovely gradient of colors.

I don't remember where I read about this technique, and I wish I did. What book did you find it in? Probably a different book if it wasn't called ruching.

-Paula

By pburch at Fri, 2010-07-09 12:34 | login or register to post comments

rope wrap technique

Paula, I got this technique from a book titled "Fabric Dyer's Dictionary" by Linda Johansen, page 92. She refers to it as "Rolling on a rope". She has some other neat techniques she demonstrates as well. The book mainly focuses on recipes for gradation dyeing, but throws in some great instructions for patterns as well.
Judy

tiedyejudy's shop
http://www.tiedyejudy.artfire.com
blog: http://hippiewear.blogspot.com
"Life without tie-dye is waaaaaaaaaaaay dull!"

By tiedyejudy at Fri, 2011-07-22 06:51 | login or register to post comments

ruched effect

Hey look, here it is in Dylon's "Traditional Tie-Dyeing" brochure [PDF]:

Ruched Effect

  • Using cord about twice the length of the fabric being dyed, tie the ends together in a knot. Different thicknesses of cord give varying patterns once tied.
  • Place the cord along the longer edge of fabric. Roll the fabric around it, leaving the knot and loop protruding at either end.
  • Pass the knotted end of cord through the loop and pull tightly to ruche the fabric.
  • Tie a knot in the cord to hold the fabric firmly in place.

I'm pretty sure I got the name and idea from a book, though, and I didn't tie the cord in a loop before rolling the fabric around it, not that that should make any significant difference.

-Paula

By pburch at Fri, 2010-07-09 12:53 | login or register to post comments

Ruching

That definitely looks like similar results! For garments, I think the rope works well since they are thicker than fabric, but either way the pattern is the same. Just goes to show... nothin' new, huh?
Judy
P.S. Paula, thanks for shrinking my image... it was waaaayy too big when I uploaded it!

tiedyejudy's shop
http://www.tiedyejudy.artfire.com
blog: http://hippiewear.blogspot.com
"Life without tie-dye is waaaaaaaaaaaay dull!"

By tiedyejudy at Sat, 2010-07-10 06:15 | login or register to post comments

color in ruching

How did you apply the color to get the gradients? I'm imagining that you ran the rope sideways to the shirt, parallel to a line running from sleeve to sleeve, but, if that's so, I don't know how you got the gradient from one color to another. Did you run the rope from neck to hem, instead? I guess you must have!

-Paula

By pburch at Sat, 2010-07-10 08:10 | login or register to post comments

Direction of Roll

Yes, Paula. I rolled vertically, banded and scrunched, then poured over the dyes overlapping the colors, let it sit for an hour, poured over the soda ash solution... My next try will be to roll diagonally. I did this a long time ago on a coverup and got a really nice look, but since I was rolling on a pvc pipe, and didn't know to roll it loosely, I only got color on the outer layers. I'm thinking the rope is better for letting the dye soak thru, so I'm going to try a diagonal version to see.
Judy
tiedyejudy's shop
http://www.tiedyejudy.artfire.com
blog: http://hippiewear.blogspot.com
"Life without tie-dye is waaaaaaaaaaaay dull!"

By tiedyejudy at Sun, 2010-07-11 06:24 | login or register to post comments

Shibori

I haven't tried this technique yet, but I've read that PVC pipe works pretty well (the kind used in plumbing and sprinkler systems). It's readily available at any Home Depot type of store in various sizes (including the 3/4" size you used with your rope) and VERY cheap. The smooth plastic surface might also make it easier to get smooth scrunches.

Then again, I have enough standard tie-dye to experiment with that it may be awhile before I can confirm any of this!

Tie-Dye Todd

By TieDyeTodd at Fri, 2010-07-09 08:24 | login or register to post comments

Various shibori methods

Yeah, I have gone the gamut with pvc, sewer pipe, the bucket... none gave me the 'water' design that I got with the rope. I finally got some nice striping last year with the bucket, but really wanted water, and it's ooh! So much easier with the rope!
Judy

tiedyejudy's shop
http://www.tiedyejudy.artfire.com
blog: http://hippiewear.blogspot.com
"Life without tie-dye is waaaaaaaaaaaay dull!"

By tiedyejudy at Fri, 2010-07-09 10:03 | login or register to post comments

wow

Judy, this is awesome, I LOVE the pattern you got, so cool!

Judi Hurwitt
Approachable Art
http://approachable-art.blogspot.com

By Judi Hurwitt at Fri, 2010-07-09 08:18 | login or register to post comments

Ruching

Releaf

Judy, that is absolutely gorgeous. You're making me want to go out right now and try that technique. Maybe when the thunderstorms are over...

By Releaf at Mon, 2010-07-12 15:20 | login or register to post comments

Nice result Judy - you're bet

Nice result Judy - you're better and better with each piece!
I did mine long time ago (2003) and I haven't got such homogenous result as you got. Maybe I should give it another try!

But as I'm thinking about it, maybe the main difference is in used clothesline (I had thin one) and in way of forming folds - I did mine by tieing ends of cothesline together, which makes one part more compressed than the other.

And here's one ruching blog from the net
http://bunks.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/ruching/

By Jaja at Tue, 2010-07-13 10:52 | login or register to post comments

Ruching results

Thanks, Jaja. I really love the colors you were using on yours! I'll bet a larger diameter rope would have given you more color. Also, do you recall if you dampened your shirt before rolling? I dampened mine first, and it rolled easier and wicked the dyes better. I noticed on the blog you referenced that the fabric looked dry when she rolled it onto the cord, but I think she got great results anyway! Thanks for sharing the link... I'm always studying how others do things... can't get enough info!
Judy

tiedyejudy's shop
http://www.tiedyejudy.artfire.com
blog: http://hippiewear.blogspot.com
"Life without tie-dye is waaaaaaaaaaaay dull!"

By tiedyejudy at Wed, 2010-07-14 06:25 | login or register to post comments

Good question, Judy! I think

Good question, Judy! I think it was in my initial MX-dyes era so I had everything wet, soda pre-soaked. I should try to do it with activated dye.
It's really nice to discuss things here, I wouldn't re-think this again without your contribution to this theme.

We did recently some printing experiments with MX-dyes, we had alot of fun with "scanning" 3-D structures with thick-foam roller and re-printing them on fabrics. But no pics so far - girls took it away (I was instructor, haven't done any piece for myself) (Ann Johnston book covers this technique)
You should try it too, you'll enjoy it.

By Jaja at Wed, 2010-07-14 10:54 | login or register to post comments

printing with dye

Jaja, I love trying it all! I just need to find the time... Would love to see pix of your results if you try the 3-d scanning again. And you're right about the discussions... I have really enjoyed the learning environment of this group, and all the inspiration!
Judy

tiedyejudy's shop
http://www.tiedyejudy.artfire.com
blog: http://hippiewear.blogspot.com
"Life without tie-dye is waaaaaaaaaaaay dull!"

By tiedyejudy at Thu, 2010-07-15 06:08 | login or register to post comments

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