Woven Shibori in process

Shibori is a very old process that usually involves clamping, tying, or stitching cloth.  In woven shibori the concept is to put in patterning threads while the cloth is being woven, rather than after.  I have woven several yards of cloth using  cotton to begin this process.  Before I started weaving the pattern(s) had to be designed, of course a design could be thought up while at the loom but I wanted to consider scale and density too.  Here are some photos of the woven cloth off the loom and through some of the dye process

The dark threads are supplementary pattern threads that will produce the pattern once the cloth is dyed. They are called supplementary because they are not necessary for the integrity of the cloth.  Once I'm done processing the cloth through the dye baths those threads are pulled out, as you'll see further on. I purposefully put in loops along the cloth edge to help me draw the threads up but it does make the weaving slower.

Here's the cloth with all those threads pulled up tight to create resist to the dye, so the dye will work in some places and not in others, this is how the pattern shows up. For this piece, the first dyes will be brushed on & set, then it will go into a  vat dye.

This cloth has been painted with dyes before being drawn up, you can see that I've started the draw up on the upper right. Once this piece is fully drawn up like it's sister it too will go into a vat dye but a different one.

More pictures to follow ....