Itajime Shibori Shirt

Welcome to my first Instructable!

Shibori is a Japanese tie dye technique that typically uses natural indigo dye but I used a fiber reactive dye for this one. You can use any type of dye you would like but I will include instructions for the type I used!

Step 1: Materials

The materials you need are:

Blank shirt
2 pieces of wood
4 clamps
Dust mask
Rubber gloves
Procion dye (I used "blueberry" color)
Urea
Soda ash
Salt
Pot (one that you won't use again for food)
Bucket and wooden stick

Step 2: Fold Shirt Accordion Style

First I folded the shirt in half. From there I folded it in thirds, flipped it over, then folded the other side into thirds.

Step 3: Clamp Wooden Blocks

Feel free to use any shape here! I will be going for a diamond pattern. Make sure the blocks are lined up completely before you clamp them down on all corners.

Step 4: Prepare Dye Solution

The color I am using today is Dharma Trading Procion dye in Blueberry. From here I just followed the instructions from their website for vat dyeing.

I mixed up 1 Tbsp of Urea with water until dissolved. Then added 1/2 tbsp of dye and mixed thoroughly.

Meanwhile, boil 2 qts of water in your pot and add 3/4 of soda ash once water is boiling. Turn off the heat and stir until completely dissolved.

In a separate bowl, I dissolved 1.5 cups of salt with warm water.

Mix all of these solutions into your bucket or vat with water. I ended up with about 1.5 -2 gallons of liquid total.

Step 5: Dip Shirt Into Dye

Dip shirt into dye. I let it sit for about a minute, then removed and wrung out the excess liquid. Remove clamps and hang to dry!

Make sure to wash alone the first time you wash this or wash with things you don't mind getting dye on them!