Here is a top I made for my just turned 7 son, inspired by a wonderful book on stitched shibori (see more below). From the many projects in the book I decided to make a stitched shibori flower to use as a center piece decoration.
While experimenting with scrap fabric I fell in love with the process of stitching, dyeing, opening the stitches and marvelling at the transformation that has taken place.
How to make the stitched shibori flower
All you need to make a shibori flower is strong nylon coated thread, a fabric marker and fabric dye.
First draw a circle in the size you want your flower to be. Fold the fabric in half, making sure the fold goes through the middle of the flower.
Now take your thread double and knot it twice at the end. Stitch along the outline you just marked. Stitch more lines underneath.
Pack the folds tightly by pulling both threads together. Make a knot, taking the thread right over left twice. Tighten it to the fabric and make a second knot, left over right twice. Pull to secure the knot.
This is how the fabric looked like before I immersed it into the dye bath. After dyeing the fabric and opening the stitches I dipped the middle of the flower into a turquoise dye bath.
And here is the book I’ve been talking about. It shows so many possibilities for designing the most beautiful patterns, it will probably keep me busy for years to come.
I used bamboo/organic cotton (that’s the fabric I dyed, bamboo has a lovely shine to it and is very soft) and organic cotton fabrics from Organic Textile Company.
You can find long sleeve shirt pattern in most colder months issues of Ottobre magazine, a sewing magazine for children’s clothes. It’s published in Finland but translated into many languages.
I wrote more posts on making fun clothes for boys like a reverse appliqué top and some cute harem pants.
I needed some sandals for cooler summer days, I try to avoid putting on shoes until I absolutely must because of my toes turning blue… So these cover most of my feet but still let in some air.
One of my favourite pastimes in summer is jewellery making. I get lots of books out of the library to teach myself new techniques and of course for inspiration. I always look for unusual beads, colour combinations that I haven’t tried before and interesting finishing techniques.
I love the look of leather and fabric together, this is the first time that I’ve made something combining these two materials. As I’ve wanted to make a rucksack for ages it was a good opportunity to try it out.
