Katagami

While I was in Japan I received possibly the highest honor one can receive! My great friend Eriko hand dyes and makes the most gorgeous luxury kimonos you have ever seen for a living! She gave me the great pleasure of giving me one of her creations. I cannot even explain how amazing a gift this is. It is so amazing that I am going to dedicate an entire post just to showcase the kimono. In the mean time I have done some research on different techniques of kimono dyeing.
Here is one


Katazome (型染め) is a Japanese method of dyeing fabrics using a resist paste applied through a stencil. With this kind of resist dyeing, a rice flour mixture is applied using a brush or a tool such as a palette knife. Pigment is added by hand-painting, immersion or both. Where the paste mixture covers and permeates the cloth, dye applied later will not penetrate.
Katazome on thin fabrics shows a pattern through to the back; on thicker or more tightly woven fabrics, the reverse side is a solid color, usually indigo blue for cotton fabrics. Futon covers made from multiple panels of fabric, if the stencils are properly placed and the panels joined carefully, exhibit a pleasing over-all pattern in addition to the elements cut into the stencil.
One attraction of katazome was that it provided an inexpensive way for over-all patterns similar to expensive woven brocades to be achieved on cotton. As with many everyday crafts of Japan it developed into a respected art form of its own.
Besides cotton, katazome has been used to decorate linen, silk and fabrics that are all or partially synthetic.
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