Japanese Adventures - Workshops

If you don't follow me on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/dyedheaven) you may have wondered where I have been.  I have just come back from my tour to Japan which, as always was a fabulous adventure. 

I will do a few blog posts with the highlights over the next few days just so you don't miss out.

This trip we did even more hands on workshops which I thought I would share with you.

Indigo Workshop

As you know I am wrapped in indigo dyeing and so to visit a traditional indigo dye works was an amazing adventure.

We all made small handkerchief sized pieces in a variety of designs. I was already familiar with these designs but more interested in the actual process

There was a water bath where all the pieces were soaked first after tying and then to the vat room. These vats are 2m deep and are kept alive by underground heating.

I was so excited by the processes that I asked the master if I could dip my Kantha jacket in the vat. A scary move but as he agreed I lowered it into the vat. I've had the jacket for years and a change is always (or sometimes) welcome

 

 Not sure if it was the best idea I've had as now a lot of the wear which was hidden before is now showing but it was interesting to turn my Indian Kantha coat into a Japanese Shibori coat. I had lots of comments about it for the rest of the trip.

We also did a Washi Papermaking workshop

We all ended up with a set of hand made paper postcards which will be treasured mementos

Japanese cooking lesson which was not only a lot of fun - we got to eat our results.

The Yuzen Stencil workshop is always a lot of fun. I have done it before so this time I spent talking to the master who has been cutting stencils for 'a hundred years' - well that is what he told me anyway.

So you can see we had a lot of fun. I'm doing it all again next November if you are interested in joining us.