the thrifty dyer

 wasn't going to leave all those drips full of indigotin go to waste. no sir. grabbed some ancient  esparto  handmade paper and let the drips fall on them. the tie threads are given in the dyeing project and so is the test strip.

tried papermaking in the late 80's as everyone else. but albeit some interesting results and a paper press i bought at the flea market it wasn't my thing . fun, but not my thing.

 i'm accumulating tie threads. there's a lot of winter stitching coming up.

 neki desu

ふゆ fuyu

冬 itajime

 there's something  quintessentially japanese about blue and white as summer colors. it is understandable as the weather is conductive to aizome.

i've worked my share this weekend and along the way have learned a couple of things, no rocket science, no major breakthrough. perhaps you  all already knew those things, so bear with me.

• air pockets in itajime can create nice textures, a tradeoff for tiring the vat.
• most of the problems i've had building up color are due to very weak pigment-indigotin - in my powdered indigo.
• if the cotton fabric is not woven square there's absolutely no way you can square it afterwards.
• the above makes itajime a PTA to say the least.
• i'm not japanese

one then has to go with the flow and accept the limitations. make grungy, free-flowing unorthodox itajime.the beautifully squared ones will have to wait until i use up all that cotton.

although not technically what we in the west understand by itajime, fascinating video  nevertheless.

neki desu

to cheat or not to cheat

i'm not getting the color i want with aizome, except for the tie thread which is gorgeous. considering dyeing the little urchin with good ol' procion mx. will that be cheating?

and speaking of which   here's a great ps tutorial for  eliminating facial marks.did you know about the patch tool utility? i think my photo life will be easier from now on.

have a wonderful weekend!

 neki desu