Indigo and Shibori Tunic

Prior to Covid, I took a trip to India. This post is about my Indigo and Shibori Tunic. It was sewn for me in India (on a different trip) using a much loved tunic, as a pattern. The tailor in Jaipur sewed 20 white tunics for me, which I dyed and printed when I returned home.

https://maijazemitis.com/tunics/

The original version of this Indigo and Shibori Tunic was not entirely satisfactory to me; somehow the shibori design seemed boring

I had dyed the fabric in Indigo with some shibori stitching on it. The resulting pattern was of horizontal lines. Nice enough but something was missing.

When I travel, I usually bring along some form of artwork to work on

On this trip to India, I brought along the Indigo and Shibori Tunic, with a plan to add some more shibori to it. Additionally, I knew that one of our stops would be a visit to a dyeing village, in Gujarat.

And they had an Indigo vat!

So, on the train from Ahmedabad to Bhuj, I stitched some circle patterns on this tunic.

I knew that the white design would become blue, as it would now be exposed to the Indigo dye.

At the dyeing village, we were given a brief explanation and demonstration of natural dyes and block printing. While my friends were trying their hand at block printing, I was kindly allowed to use their existing Indigo vat to dye my tunic.

https://maijazemitis.com/indigo-dyeing-in-gujarat/

Once the fabric was dyed, it needed to be rinsed numerous times in order to wash out the Indigo which had not attached itself. 

Then, it was laid out on the ground, to dry in the sun.

Et voila, the 2020 version of my Indigo and Shibori Tunic! A much more subtle design with a memorable backstory!