Shibori Indigo Workshop

This series of shibori workshops offers a progressive introduction to Japanese indigo dyeing through technique-based study. Each session explores a different approach to resist—folding, binding, stitching, and layering— while working on traditional cotton cloth. While workshops may be taken individually, they are designed to build as a series, allowing returning participants to deepen their understanding of pattern, repetition, and process over time. Emphasis is placed on hands-on experience, observation, and the evolving relationship between cloth, resist, and indigo.

Each session can be taken individually, participants are encouraged to enroll in multiple sessions to experience the full progression of techniques.

2026-2027 Schedule

Details

• Workshop 1: November 21, 2026 – Fold & Bind Resist

This introductory workshop explores the foundational techniques of shibori through folding and binding. Participants learn how simple manipulations of cloth—combined with indigo dyeing—create pattern through resistance.

Students will experiment with a range of folded and bound structures, observing how pressure, placement, and repetition influence the final design.

Pattern exploration may include:

• Itajime (folded and clamped resist)
• Arashi-inspired wrapping (pole-wrapped variations adapted for class)
• Basic bound resist patterns

Suitable for both first-time and returning students.

 

• Workshop 2: January 16, 2027 – Pattern & Repetition

This workshop focuses on repetition as a tool for developing rhythm, structure, and visual clarity in cloth. Building on foundational techniques, participants explore how repeated forms create both order and variation.

Through guided practice, students refine their ability to control spacing, alignment, and density while allowing for subtle shifts within the pattern.

Pattern exploration may include:

• Repeated fold-and-bind variations
• Grid-based pattern development
• Progressive resist structures

Open to all levels; prior experience helpful but not required.

 

• Workshop 3: February 20, 2027 – Stitched Resist (Kumo & Nui)

This session introduces stitched resist techniques, where thread is used to gather and compress cloth before dyeing. The process is slower and more deliberate, emphasizing line, tension, and the relationship between stitch and pattern.

Participants will learn how variations in stitch length, spacing, and pull affect the final result.

Pattern exploration may include:

• Kumo (web-like radial patterns)
• Nui (linear and guided stitch resist)
• Simple stitched motifs and variations

Some hand sewing experience is helpful but not required.

 

• Workshop 4: March 13, 2027 – Layering & Indigo Overdye

This workshop explores building depth through multiple dye sequences and layered resist techniques. Participants revisit earlier methods while introducing new approaches to create more complex surfaces.

Emphasis is placed on timing, sequence, and the cumulative effects of repeated dyeing.

Pattern exploration may include:

• Overdyeing previous patterns
• Combining fold, bind, and stitch
• Layered resist compositions

Best suited for returning students, though all are welcome.

 

Time

• 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Price

• $80 per workshop

Material Fee

• $40 (cash payable to the instructor)
• All workshops will be using tenugui.

Location

• Oki Education Center

Please Bring:

• Rubber gloves (long ones like the ones used for dishwashing)
• Apron/smock or wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty
• Plastic bag to take wet items home (a one-gallon Ziploc would be good)
• Other materials may be added to the list as we get closer to the date of the workshop(s)