Yesterday 3 Guild members and I went to Wild Rose Escapes in Cannich for a day of Shibori dyeing.

There are other websites and blogs that go into more about shibori and indigo dyeing generally, so if you are interested in learning more then Google is a good place to start.

In summary we spent the day folding and wrapping cotton fabric squares and dipping them into a dye pot.

Some of them we dyed with your typical indigo kit that has chemicals in, and in the afternoon we tried a more natural alternative with indigo, fructose and lime (not the fruit).

The dye baths had been prepared by Rosie in advance and we had socially distanced tables to do our folding and wrapping.

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The examples I made used elastic bands, ice lolly sticks, bulldog clips, pegs, string and cotton. It would have been great if I had kept a record of what I’d done and the result, but hey ho!

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When you put the fabric in the liquid it goes green, when you take it out and it hits the oxygen in the air it turns blue!

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One of the ladies commented that this one looks like a dragons head….do you see it?

I enjoyed the day, but I was shattered at the end. It’s difficult for an introvert to spend the day with anyone without moments to recharge those socialising batteries. I definitely give the wrong impression on our Zoom calls as my ‘work mode’ switches on as I’m usually the zoom host, but ‘normal’ me is quiet and content to listen to others chat. Is it the Gemini in me, this split personality of ‘work mode’ and ‘normal mode?

They need another rinse and ironing and then I need to decide what to do with them. There was one more that I’d used as a sampler of different sewn techniques, but it didn’t work so well. I will use that as a project bag lining, as it’s pretty much just blue.