Japanese Textile Studies - A Year Long Adventure

Jill  showing a garment that she constructed and dyed using Shibori techniques.

September means the beginning of a new guild year and this year Reno Fiber Guild is on a Japanese Textile adventure.  At our meeting, we invited two members who have been on textile tours in Japan and several more who just love  Japanese textiles and techniques  and agreed to share their work and textiles with members.

 

Diana  shows a scarf made of polyester that has been heat set so that the textured surface is permanent

 

 

The guild is interested in learning new skills and one of those that has a lot of potential for use in jewelry and decorative bands and braids is Kumihimo. 

 

Suzanne shows off her Kumihimo technique on the Marudai.  This pattern is using 16 tama in an 8 move sequence.

Nancy is braiding with eight tama and changes the colors after a certain length is braided so that she will have materials for three neckpieces.



 



Mary explained some interesting facts about Sashiko embroidery in her presentation.

Sashiko (an embroidery technique) is also something that seems quite plausible in decorating cloth for a variety of uses.

 

Julie purchased Haori from Kasuri Dyeworks in Berkeley quite a few years ago.  She brought her collection which had interesting surface design work.

For the grand finale, the members showed items that they had in their own private collections. Some of us had enjoyed the "old days" in which used kimono could be purchased by the 200 pound bale. Diana explained that now, the used kimono are being sold directly in street fairs instead of allowing them to be exported.  However,  prices still remain reasonable for cloth that was painstakingly created and still gorgeous.

This very long textile is an elegant obi embroidered with real gold threads.  Toni says she has used it as a table runner for holidays.

 

We ended the evening enjoying all the books and textiles on display with an eye on a full year of indulging our passion for weaving, dyeing and surface design.  Stay tuned for more posts as we learn and create our own Japanese style textiles