Nip Tuck

This is my second shibori shirt; strictly speaking, it's the first half of the second experiment.

I've been nipping and tucking and tying up all over this shirt in a totally random way, little bits every night. I dyed it in the leftover dye solution from the first shirt this afternoon. The shirts are both cotton, but the first shirt (left) is much thicker and more elastic, and the second thinner and more papery. I don't know if the quality of the cottons made the drastic difference in the color, or if it's the second time for the dye solution, and a couple of weeks have passed. The solution's color looked close enough to last time, but obviously there's something going on.

The stitching on the shirt, (not the tied bits) didn't dye, so I might leave the buttons white, too. I'm glad the collar dyed, though, as it would have looked a bit sad with a white collar, I feel. The shirt just came out of the washing machine so when it dries it might be even paler. But I was able to deal with blotchiness better.

And I do so enjoy wearing the first shirt; in fact, it's hanging there because I just pressed it.

Tonight, I think I'll take out some of the tied up bits, and then nip-tuck some more in other places, and eventually stick it in another color dye bath.

And speaking of dyeing, Kaz has an excellent idea to cultivate children's interest in textiles "from the get go"; I think this would provide me a fun practice dyeing opportunity, and a way to use my tiny stash of cute patches, buttons and ribbons.