How to Tie Dye Shibori Style

Hey guys,

It's Sheryll Questa and today I'll be showing you how I achieved my Grape Soda shorts using Shibori, Ne Maki style. Have you ever wondered how to dye fabric? Have you ever wondered where the beautiful patterns on fabric come from? Well, I'll tell you right now there aren't tiny little elves operating a fabric printing press. LOL!

Shibori is actually an ancient Japanese art of dyeing fabric. By using the shibori technique you can bind, stitch, twist, and compress cloth to create an infinite number of styles & patterns. Shibori dyeing has actually dated back to the 8th century. Now that's a long time!

In this video, I'll be creating what I like to call my "Grape Soda" shorts. As the seasons change, it's always nice to switch it up. And if you've got spare white clothing laying around using it to tie-dye, or in a shibori style of dye would be awesome.

There are several types of styles of Shibori. From Kanoko shibori, Miura shibori, Kumo shibori, Ne Maki shibori, Nui shibori, Arashi shibori, and Itajime shibori. Each style involves some sort of stitching, binding, twisting or folding the fabric to create unique patterns with dye.

I had so much fun making my grape soda shorts. And now with the seasons changing, it's always fun to switch it up about. So why not try Shibori dyeing. It's fun and exciting to see what the finished result will be. Plus, with so many different styles of shibori, there's always a new look every time. It's almost guaranteed that you'll never get the exact same look twice

Let's start drawing the design for our template. Begin by drawing diagonal lines going both ways. Cross-hatching each other. Make sure there is enough spacing between each diagonal line, around 2 inches should be fine. Do this for both the front and back of your clothing.

Once our template is complete, we can now begin banding. To achieve this, begin by pulling the fabric at the intersecting point. Then take a piece of plastic wrapping and rubber band each intersection.

Pre-wash the fabric by soaking it in warm water for 2-3 minutes. This all allows the fabric to be able to absorb the dye easily.

Now take hot water, add salt, a drop of dish detergent, and the Rit dye. Add the fabric to the the mixture. The time for it to sit in the the mixture depends on how deep of the color you want. I choose to soak my fabric in for 3-5 minutes.

Fill a container with cold water and add 4 table spoons of Color Stay. Let your fabric soak for about 20 minutes.

Now remove all the rubber bands and plastic wrapping.

That's it!!! Just let your fabric dry and sport your new look.