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Japanese Textile Dyeing

Barbara Ledig-Sheehan    

Description of Project

I first saw Japanese printed textiles at a guild meeting of the Empire Quilters in N.Y.City in 1996.  I thought that they were beautiful and different and wondered how they were made.  I began doing research about Japanese fabrics and found that to the present day, there are  two basic hand methods of decorating cloth using resist techniques.  One process uses a stencil in repetition to transfer a pattern (Katazome) and the other method transfers one-of-a-kind designs in a free-hand application style (Tsutsugaki).

For my project in Japanese Textile Dyeing, I first studied Japanese fabrics in books and at local museums to refresh my sense of Japanese design.  I made drawings that I would later use for stencils.  The stencil, Katagami, is the transfer vehicle in Katazome.  I also did drawings that would provide me with ideas for the second  method, Tsutsugaki.

Since I am a quilt artist, I wanted to use the fabrics I dye-painted in a quilted piece.  I had the idea of having my quilt be Kimono shaped, and after I saw  photos of Yogi, quilted bed covers in the shape of a kimono, I decided to use my fabrics in this type of quilted piece.  II  Opening remarks of the Artist

All the various steps that go into the process of hand dyeing the fabrics, i.e. cutting the stencils, pasting the fabrics, painting the fabrics with dyes, designing with the finished cloth and making the final project - Yogi I - were very rewarding to me as an artist.  I felt accomplishment in the completed piece and most importantly, took joy in learning something new on my own, conquering, to some degree, age-old techniques. 1)  purpose of the project

One reason that I wanted to learn Japanese textile dyeing techniques was so that I would be able to add hand-dyed cloth to my fabric palette.  I have been a quilt maker for over 25 years and the notion of creating my own fabric designs offered a new and exciting dimension to my work.  

I knew that I would be able to pass on some aspects of these techniques to my students in the form of designing and cutting stencils, applying paste and painting fabrics with dyes.  Stencils could also be used to print on paper and other materials.  The method of applying paste in a free-hand manner and then painting the cloth would also be possible to teach.  Painted fabrics could be used for individual projects or combined in a class project.

Finally, I felt that it was important for students, parents and colleagues alike to see that I, as artist-teacher, continue to reinvent my work and that there is a serious commitment to process and discovery in my creative life. 2)  value of the project to teachers and students

Resist techniques are used in fabric dyeing in many parts of the world--India, Indonesia, Japan, China to mention a few.  A common resist method is that of applying wax to fabric in the areas where the dyes are to be blocked or resisted.  We know this technique as batik.  The Japanese methods use a rice-bran paste.  This enables the artist to produce similar effects using a non-toxic, safe, substance.  Teachers would be able to learn and pass on two methods of using paste resist in dyeing fabrics--stencil and free-hand designing.  They would learn how to make a paste resist and how to use it.  Students and teachers alike would also learn to recognize resist techniques in the many fabrics available to them on the market. 3)  techniques

My project in Japanese Textile Dyeing--Katazome and Tsutsugaki--used various techniques that I had to "master" before I could make any kind of statement. I will, therefore, outline the various steps I needed to go through to make the final product. a. The Stencil: After spending time looking at Japanese Art in books and drawing at local  museums, I began working on the stencil designs for Katazome.  Designs are first drawn, taking into account the repeat factor.  Stencils are cut from mulberry paper (Shibugami) lacquered with persimmon tannin.  Drawings are transferred to the Shibugami using carbon paper.  The stencils are placed on a cutting mat and negative areas removed using cutting knives and punches (for small holes). To strengthen the stencils and hold them together, silk netting is applied to the top side using a foam rubber dauber with water base house paint.  Extra paint is blotted off using dampened newspaper.  The process is repeated to make sure that the netting is securely attached to the stencils. They are then set aside to dry, covered with dampened newspaper and gently weighted down to make sure they dry flat.  (Photo 1--stencil and equipment) b.  Sizing the fabric with soymilk: One cup of soybeans is combined with one cup of water and left overnight to soak.  Soaked soybeans are then put into a blender and water added.  After the soybeans are blended, the liquid is poured into a bowl through a piece of fabric.  The cloth is twisted to make a ball and the milk is strained through the fabric into the bowl.  Soybean pulp can then be put back into the blender another time and the process repeated.  After the cloth has been dyed to the desired color (immersion process) it is ready to be sized.  It is stretched on the Harite and the soymilk brushed on in even strokes.  The fabric is left on the frame to dry.  When it is dry the cloth is stiff.  The sizing helps keep the dyes from running under the paste and makes the fabric easier with which to work.  (Photo 2--fabric stretched on the Harite for sizing) c.  The Paste: Komon nuka is finely ground rice-bran degreased for use in making dye paste.  Mochiko is glutinous rice-- "sweet rice." The recipe is 1 part mochiko, 1 part Komon nuka, 1 part water.  Ingredients are mixed through a sifter into a bowl.  Water is added gradually and kneaded (like bread dough) until the mixture is smooth.  The paste is then put into a Pyrex cup, covered lightly with plastic, and placed in the microwave, with water on top and bottom to prevent the paste from drying out.  It is cooked to a peanut butter consistency.  Cooked paste is then put into a bowl (Suribachi) and is worked with until it is a smooth consistency and runs off the mixing stick in an even flow.  The Suribachi is unglazed and rough inside so that mixing in it breaks down the lumps and makes the paste smooth.   A mixing stick or Surikogi, is used to stir the mixture.  Until I was able to purchase this bowl and mixing stick, I used a hand mixer and a mixing bowl.  Salt and calcium hydroxide, each diluted in a cup of water, are added as needed according to climate and to strengthen the paste. (these ingredients are optional) There are two basic ways of using the paste: Katazome--stencil and Tsutsugaki--cone drawing.  (photo 3--equipment for making the paste) d.  The Dyes: I used ProChem powdered dyes for my project.  For direct application, the dyes are mixed with Urea water ( Urea, Mataphose and warm water) to make a paste and then more Urea water is added to make a cup of dye.  The dye is thickened with dye paste (Pro Print Paste Mix plus water at room temperature) and the addition of this paste to the dyes makes them usable for painting.  Right before painting, Alkali fixative is added to the dyes (one level tsp.to a cup).  This fixative helps the dyes to bond to the fabric.  With the immersion process, cloth is first washed in hot water with Synthrapol to remove sizing.  Dye is put directly into water at room temperature to which salt is added.  The fabric is then put into this dye bath.  The container should be large enough for the cloth to move freely and to allow the dye bath to be stirred without spilling.  The mixture is stirred continuously for 10 to 15 minutes to achieve even results or not stirred for mottled results.  Pro Dye Activator is dissolved in 2 cups of water.  The cloth is removed from the dye bath and the PDA is added to this mixture.  It is returned to the dye bath and stirred every 5 minutes for 60 minutes.  The fabric is then rinsed thoroughly to remove excess dye.  Finally, the dyed cloth is washed again in hot water and Synthrapol. (When dyes are ordered from ProChem, the supplier includes full instructions and a color chart if these are requested.)  A book that was very useful to me with regard to dyeing fabrics was Hand-Dyed Fabric Made Easy by Adrienne Buffington.  Since I had never painted with dyes before, and had little experience with immersion techniques, I needed to know basic information.  This book gave very clear directions with regard to process.  It also warned of health hazards connected with dyeing and talked about what to do to avoid them.   4)  process and assembly

I began the process of making my Yogi 1 --a quilted bed cover in the shape of a kimono--by drawing at local museums, photographing cherry blossoms in Central Park, and gathering a selection of books about Japanese design.  Most importantly, I visited Kinokunya, a Japanese bookstore in midtown and purchased the video Japanese Textile Dyeing by John Marshall.  I also gathered the supplies I needed, most of them coming from Kasuri Dyeworks in California and ProChem Dyeworks in Maine.  I took source material to the computer and manipulated it using the Painter and Photoshop programs.  When I had designs that I felt would work, I printed them out in color.  I then transferred the designs to the Shibugami (mulberry paper) and cut them using an X-ACTO knife and a puncher tool.  As it turned out, I used six stencils in my project and these were printed in repetition--two for the cherry blossoms, two for the trees and two for the water--mountain designs.  I pasted these stencils on hand-dyed apricot fabric (immersion technique) that had been sized with soybean milk.  After the paste was leather hard, I put the fabric on a frame--Harite--and painted the forms using ProChem dyes.  I also pasted a bird using the Tsutsugaki technique.  Tsutsugaki allows for direct application of the paste to the fabric.  A thinner paste is used, so that it will easily flow from the pastry tube or plastic bottle onto the cloth.  I drew my bird onto the fabric first and then pasted it. This technique allows for looser, one of a kind designs, while Katazome is excellent for repetitions.  All fabrics were washed using warm water to remove the paste and extra dyes, and then rinsed in hot water and Synthrapol, a soap.  I used some of the fabric as whole pieces and some I cut into 21/2" squares to use for nine-patch.  (photos 4 and 5--samples of Katazome stencils--photo 6--Tsutsugaki on the Harite)

Once I had made my painted fabrics I began assembling my Yogi.  I made nine-patch to use in the design and sewed these squares together with my water and mountain fabrics.  This became the bottom section of my piece.  I purchased navy blue fabric, and cut it to form the kimono shape--central panel.  I applied my tree and flower fabrics (appliqué) to this cloth.  I added embroidered tendrils in gold thread directly to the blue fabric. (I embroidered with this thread on all my fabrics.)  Next, I added the extended pieces to the kimono shape to make it wider and suitable for a bed, and carried out my design elements onto them.  Lastly, I attached the sleeves, continued the branch and flower motifs onto them and appliquéd the large bird at the top of the tree.  This completed my piece.  I then basted the assembled the Yogi to the batting and basted the two pieces to the backing fabric.  Once the Yogi was basted together, I folded it so that it would be manageable for lap quilting.  I then began the quilting process, using navy quilting thread. For the most part, my quilting stitches echoed appliquéd forms with several repetitions.  I quilted directly into the nine-patch.  It took me approximately 70 hours to quilt the piece.  (photo 7--basted quilt--photo 8--completed piece)  5) tips and comments

The process of working with these ancient techniques was gratifying, exciting and at times, frustrating.  I had no trouble designing, cutting and preparing the stencils.  My problems came with the paste and the dyes.  I pasted several pieces of fabric where the paste was too thin or unevenly applied.  This caused the paste to crack and the dyes to bleed under the paste, ruining the design.  At one point I was upset by repeated failure and called John Marshall out in California.  He was a willing listener and advisor and after my conversation with him I came to the realization that my problems were three-fold: too thin rice-bran paste, too thin dyes and fabric sized with over-the-counter soymilk. I made sure that the paste was a thicker consistency, thickened my dyes with ProChem paste and sized my fabric with soymilk made in a blender from real beans.  I had better results after this.  (If the rice-bran paste becomes too sticky, it is impossible to apply--it sticks to the netting instead of going through it. If the dyes are too thick, they are not absorbed into the fabric and the color is weakened -- less intense. The dyes mixed with paste last only a month and even before this time they appear to weaken--are less intense on the fabric. Once mixed with Alkali, dyes are usable for only 4 hours. Instructions given by the dye supplier should be carefully followed.)   Mr. Marshall was kind enough to put me in touch with two former students of his out in New Jersey.  I was able to go out there and meet with them and got some hints as to consistency of the paste and an alternate method of applying the paste for Tsutsugaki. The color of the base fabric also affects the final dye colors.

What I often thought of as "mistakes" turned out to be successes.  For example, when I first dyed my fabric--immersion technique--I thought that it was too bright.  I had wanted a soft apricot and it turned out intense, even though I had mixed the recipe for pale.  However, in the long run, this tone worked well with all my other color selections and was especially successful when combined with navy blue.  I also pasted and dye painted some of my flowers on white fabric and when I went to apricot, thought this unusable.  However, I was able to dye this cloth apricot--immersion technique--toning but not covering the colors already applied. This made a difference time-wise, since I had already embroidered on these flowers before I committed to apricot.

At the outset of my project I thought that I would combine hand-dyed cloth with commercially printed fabrics.  I did not know whether I could manage to hand-dye all the fabric needed to make a Yogi,  a quilted bed cover.  I found cloth that I intended to use as the link between hand-made and store-bought and ordered dyes consistent with the color scheme of this fabric.  As I began to dye my own cloth, and put it next to the acquired fabric, the contrast in style and motif was too great.  I wound up making all the fabric that I would need, combining it instead with solids, both bought and hand-dyed.  I also used a striped fabric that I had gotten from Japan.  In mid August, I visited the Quilters' Express to Japan in Manhattan, where I intended to purchase fabric for binding off my piece.  I had the quilt top with me and laid it on the floor. I began placing fabrics next to it to see what would work.  Lo and behold, I found the very fabric I had originally thought to combine with my own fabrics and it clicked.  So--I had come full circle and finally used this cloth to bind off the piece.  (As an aside, I since completed a piece that does  combine this fabric with hand-dyed cloth.  My stencils are based on the maple leaf motif in the original fabric and I made a large tree and birds using the Tsutsugaki technique.)

Dye painting my own fabric gave me a new sense of appreciation for the fabric itself.  I thought long and hard before I cut up a whole piece of cloth that I had stencilled and hand-dyed to make small squares for nine-patch.  It put me in touch with the women of old, who not only dyed and designed their fabrics, but wove them as well.  Of course every scrap was precious, and so the technique of patchwork was born, using and reusing every inch that was made.

In the time that has elapsed since my summer grant, I have made Yogi 11 and another quilted piece using Japanese dyeing methods.  Last year my Yogi I was accepted into a show Patchwork: A Contemporary Interpretation held at the Islip Art Museum on Long Island.  Recently I showed my pieces using hand-dyed fabrics in a show Art Quilts and Funky Dolls at the Main Street Gallery in Hastings, New York.  I had a very positive response to the work. Yogi I  also received a first place in the Biannual Empire Guild show held at a New York Armory.  

During the first semester this year, I did a project using Katazome with my Portfolio/AP Art students.  They designed and cut stencils, ran the paste and painted the open areas using ProChem dyes.  In the second semester students will do a piece using Tsutsugaki, the free-hand painting style.  We intend to combine our pieces and make a group project to donate for Annual Giving at out school.

Receiving this grant from CBE has lead to other exciting opportunities for me.  In 1998  I was fortunate to travel to Japan with a grant from the Freeman Foundation administered by the Japan Society.  I was able to see first-hand,  examples of both ancient and modern fabrics made using these processes.  I also visited workshops and saw the techniques being practiced.  This past summer I traveled to China with a grant from the Freeman Foundation, this time administered by the American Forum for Global Education.  Traveling in China, especially in Yunnan Province, I and was able to see examples of other resist dying methods using wax and tying techniques.  The adventure, begun with the grant from CBE, continues.  

Student Work Samples:

Bibliography

Stephen Addiss. How To Look At Japanese Art, 

Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1996.

Frances Blakemore. Japanese Design Through Textile Patterns,  Weatherhill, Inc.,  New York, 1978.

Joseph D'Addetta. Traditional Japanese Design Motifs,  Dover Publications, New York, 1984.

Kanako Kenji. Katazome, Komon, Chugata,  Kyoto Shoin Co., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan, 1994

Alan Kennedy. Japanese Costume,  Editions Adam Biro, Paris France, 1990.

Cara McCarty and Matilda McQuaid. Structure and Surface, Contemporary Japanese Textiles, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1998.

Maruyama Nobuhiko.Yuzen Dyeing,  Kyoto Shoin Co., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan, 1993.

William Jay Rathbun, editor. Beyond the Tanabata Bridge, Traditional Japanese Textiles,  the Seattle Art  Museum,  Seattle, Washington, 1993.

Yoshioka Sachio.Tsutsugaki Textiles ,  Kyoto Shoin Co., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan, 1994.

Rebecca A. T. Stevens, editor. The Kimono Inspiration,  The Textile Museum, Washington, D. C. , 1996.

Andrew W. Tuer. Japanese Stencil Designs,  Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1967.

Video:  John Marshall. Japanese Textile Dyeing,  A/Zo Productions, Berkeley, California.  

The Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The Museum of Modern Art, New York  HyperStudio presentations on Katagami, Katazome, and Tsutsugaki.  Techniques as seen in ancient and modern textiles and in my own work.  Suppliers: Kasuri Dyeworks 1959 Shattuck Avenue Berkeley, Ca. 94704 510-841-4509