Thursday 28 June 2012

Stencil Dying in Kyoto


One hot Tuesday morning Beth, Natalie and I cycled to the edge of Kyoto to do a stencil dying workshop in a factory and school that makes handmade kimono. On arrival we had a fascinating tour and got to see the traditional and highly skilled process from start to finish.


I will attempt to describe the process to you but it may not be very technically correct! Beth did a fine job of translating but there was an awful lot to take in so forgive me if it's slightly vague!

First we saw examples of the hand cut stencils. 


Look how intricate they are.



The stencil is then pinned out onto the fabric and a thick blue masking ink is applied with a squeegee. 


When the fabric is painted the dye will not reach the blue masked off areas. 


Patterns are built up this way.


Huge lengths of fabric are stretched out held taught by strips of bamboo.



When it is ready to be painted the fabric is attached to these large rollers so it can be stretched right out across the room and the painter can simply pull on the loop to work across different bits of the design. It's very clever. You can see it here on this video (enjoy the funny music).


The dye is applied with short stubby brushes which are pushed into the fabric. It's a wonder that such intricate work can be done. 


These long strips form the panels of the kimono. You can buy a kimono here from about £8000. Phew!    Look at some of the finished ones made for 'Coming of Age' ceremonies. Makes the suit I bought Euan yesterday for his end of school prom seem much less expensive! 



We had a go ourselves.


With rich coloured dyes and stubby brushes.


We brought home our small samples to remember the day.

14 comments:

Helen (Dixon Hill Girl) said...

Fascinating! Those kimono you link to are stunning!!!

WrightStuff said...

Wow - what craftsmanship. Incredible. I bet they were interested in your work though. Were you able to share what you do too?

Sarah Mason Photography said...

Wow - how intricate and beautiful is that? What an amazing process. Great photos!

I love that funny music...

Jannese (crafty_love) said...

That's amazing! The attention to detail and the delicate work done by these craftsmen is truly beautiful

Ann Martin said...

Loved seeing this - so interesting! I've been enjoying all of your trip posts.

Unknown said...

can't think of anything to say but AMAZING!
jax x

Florcita said...

Amazing beautiful designs and...such craftmanship!

Anneliese said...

Hannah! this is amazing, thank you so much for posting it... you must have had a wonderful visit!

Unknown said...

Hi Hannah, I've discovered you because one of your photos has been pinned on Pinterest. What a beautiful blog! I have also been to Japan and it influences my art. Looking forward to having a good read of this blog :)

maria cecilia lohner said...

MARAVILHOSO !!!!!! GOSTARIA DE APRENDER A FAZER ESSAS ESTAMPAS...

WendyJ said...

Fantastic ! I am a Silk Artist and would love to visit this place some day. Thank you so much for the info.

Anonymous said...

Amazing to see such great work and tradition not lost. Must have been a great trip.

Sammy said...

We're you able to create a tutorial video this work looks unique

Anonymous said...

What a great work.what kind of dye do they used.


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