Shibori Shrug Jacket
Heres another throw back post. I thought if I do not remember doing this maybe you won’t either. I hope you like it.
After seeing Ruth’s jacket it reminded me I had made a small one for one of my daughter’s dolls years ago. I thought I should give it another try but life size this time. I thought about doing it seamless but decided that it would make something that is a simple design into something complicated. Although I am not a great sewer I was sure sewing 2 straight seems on my machine should not be beyond me.
There are quite a few pictures so I have put them in a gallery for ease of viewing. If I could figure out how to post pictures side by side or in groups I would but that is beyond my skill level.
First I made a large piece of nuno felt. I used silk gauze and merino wool. After it was finished I put it in a red dye bath. It came out quite nice. It’s hard to tell from the picture because my camera did not like the red at all. The one you see was the best of a bad lot.
The next thing to do was the shibori. I finger pleated the middle of the piece starting at one short end. I very carefully held it flat and tight while I tied it. The first tie is the hardest one. After that you just pleat it up tying every couple of inches. You don’t want to be too neat about it. If the pleats are to perfect you get straight lines. You want your pleats to be tight so some of the material will resist the dye in the second bath. This type of shibori is supposed to make a bark like pattern. I put the tied up piece in a purple dye bath hopping for a nice red purple to appear on my cloth. It came out black. After it was dry the gauze side had more of a purple look but still very dark.
I sewed up my jacket. I made the material far too wide so the jacket ends up long. The short sides overlapped a lot when folded up. I had to have long “lapels” to make it work. It is not a mistake it’s a design feature, just ask me :O) It is still to long for me. I think it may look good one someone who is tall and thin. Two things I am not.
All in all not a bad try. I’ve made another piece of nuno felt to try again, I made it narrower this time. Now I have to find the time to sew it up.
22 thoughts on “Shibori Shrug Jacket”
The pattern has turned out lovely! And the design feature really adds to the overall great look of the jacket.
I couldn’t wear it either. I’m tall …………. but thin I ain’t!
Great photos showing the whole process..I do like the finished article. Congratulations.
very nice indeed!
This is fantastic!! I love the color, the special dyeing, and the fabulous pattern design of it!!!!!
I can’t believe that it wouldn’t flatter any body shape/size!?!
Well done, you!! XXO-
This is lovely Ann, and good progress pics too. I’m neither tall nor thin either! I’m enjoying shibori dyeing at the moment too. Having done some “Arashi” – i.e. wrapped diagonally round a pole, tied then “squashed up”, I’m now in the process of some “Nui” – sewing the pattern in. I must remember to take some photos.
Nice to see the process & love the results!
I wonder if it could be tailored — a tuck here, a fold there — to fit you. It is so beautiful! I imagine it worn over a simple black Jersey body-skimming dress, maybe with black leggings. So feminine and interesting, too!
Thank you everyone.I was trying to get tall. That’s why I am not thin. The shibori is fun to play with. Í found a faster way to do the poss wrapping. I use elastics. it made it much faster and easier than wrapping a string around it. it does end up a little different but not a lot. it always take a lot longer to tie up than I think it will.
I am going to take it to show a friend that good at that sort of thing. I want to see if we could shorten the back by maybe cutting a semi circle out of it, so it would stay long on the sides. but maybe just split it. I will have to sew it and make it not reversible possibly.
i love what you created. I too am sewing/spatially challenged but APPARENTLY way more than you. how does one sew this up from a rectangle. ? If you are okay with telling i would love to know.
Fabulous Ann! I love it!! I have plans to make more of these and the shibori is a great idea. I think the length is great. I thought mine was a bit too short. And the lapels are an option that Polly Stirling noted in her article where I got the idea. So they are definitely a design feature!
For me it was a solution to having it so wide. It does mean that no matter how your shrinkage goes you have something nice in the end.
Ruth saw this with an article about or by Polly Sterling I learned of it from a weaving book on simple things to sew with your weaving. Essentially you fold the bottom corners up to the middle of the top long side. Try it with a piece of paper. I saw another one were you brought the corners of the short sides together and sewed them some how to make a shawl that didn’t fall on the floor. I am going to have to find that book at the next guild meeting.
Ann its gorgeous, i really love it and to me its a perfect length 🙂
It was better on my thin friend. It does bunch in the back but I am going to leave it. I am going to figure out how to shorten in the middle for the some others. I like the large lapels.
Ann
Wow, that’s gorgeous, Ann! And well done on the photos, I know what you mean about Red, my camera just vibrates with bright red or blue like it’s been blinded 🙂
You must have started out with a huge lay out for the finished pece to be that big, you did a great job and the dyeing is great.
it started out 4×8. I only made one thin layer of wool down the length of the piece. It ended up about 6×3.5. maybe a little wider. with the wool only going the one way it doesn’t shrink up the opposite way much. 4×8 is the size of the table it is on.
That is so good to see the process, end product looks great too. I would really like to have a go at making a big piece like this, might start planning for the next Southern Felters group day where I will have enough room. I always like to hear about shrinkage issues as I tend to be very much guessitmate.
Thank you Jane. You can always do a little at a time and roll it up as you go. not as easy but you can do it. Shrinkage something you can sample for. make a 10×10 square then its fairly easy to figure out how much it shrinks. I now if I only lay the wool out in one direction I am not going to shrink much in the other direction.
I’d forgotten this! It’s a great pattern.
Thanks Lyn< it is amazing what we forget sometimes.
It’s my first time seeing it and I love it. Great shape & wonderful pattern & colour.
Thanks Lindsay. I am glad you like it