Shibori, A Beginner’s Guide to Creating Color & Texture on Fabric by Lynne Caldwell is one of the better books written for artists interested in learning the art of shibori from beginning to some intermediate techniques.

Summary

• Comprehensive lists of tools, materials and techniques for four types of shibori
• Very good step-by-step instructions accompanied by clear photos and illustrations
• Exciting projects designed to show practical and creative applications for garments and household accessories

For those who don’t know, Shibori is the ancient Japanese art of dyeing cloth using various methods of manipulating fabric to create areas that will resist the dye bath, producing an exciting variation of patterns and textures, in other words, Japanese tie-dye.

This book deals with four different shibori methods: folding and clamping, arashi – pole-wrapping, bound resists and stitching and gathering. These four methods provide an endless variety of patterns and textures, limited only by the artist’s imagination. It is almost magical to unfold the fabric and discover the exciting and beautiful textures, resulting in designer fabrics that can be used in countless projects of textile design.

The author provides an introduction to the types of dyes and fabrics used, and comprehensive lists of inexpensive and easily obtained tools and materials to create unique designs in fabric. An introduction to each of the shibori methods outlines the procedure and illustrates the effect, then is followed by step-by-step instructions accompanied with clear and concise how-to illustrations and photos of finished examples.

The possibilities in patterns and color combinations in shibori are unlimited and this book offers many, including combinations of the techniques, finishing instructions and project suggestions. The manipulation of fabric and dyes in the shibori methods is unpredictable, exciting and rewarding, and addicting once you have started to experiment.

This book is a fabulous resource for artists who wish to learn the basics of shibori and advance to intermediate techniques and projects.

PROS: Rich in material to start any artist into the magical art of shibori.

CONS: The realm of dyes, dyeing procedures is complex in itself and the beginning dyer may need additional reference to learn the dye/fabric combinations best suiting the artist’s ideas. However, the sources of information on this subject are plentiful, including information from the supplier sources listed in the book.

As a working textile artist, I highly recommend this book as an efficient learning tool and reference book to keep on the shelf.

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Creative Batik by Rosi Robinson is a must have for the beginning batik artist and an excellent reference to keep on the shelf for inspiration and instruction in the modern methods of producing batik art cloth.

Summary

• Short history of traditional batik
• Detailed chapters explaining materials and tools
• Easy to follow step-by-step projects, accompanied with beautiful colored photos

Modern batik methods make this art form accessible to any person interested in creating exciting art cloth and garments.

Batik is an ancient Javanese art form and in its traditional practice required many steps of dyeing and waxing, dyeing traditionally done with repeated dip dyeing in natural indigo (blues) and soga (browns). Included in a brief history of batik, its origin and practice, are color photos showing beautiful examples of traditional batik cloth.

Traditional batik involves repeated waxing, dip dyeing and boiling the wax out of the cloth, however this book illustrates simpler methods of applying wax and dye and removing the wax with everyday household tools and materials.

You will learn six different techniques used in modern batik: using hard wax, stamps, brushes, etching and cracking, discharging and drawing with wax using traditional canting tools.

Projects include step-by-step easy-to-follow instructions, materials and tools lists illustrated by clear colored photos. The variety of projects – scarves, art cloth, lampshades – will start you well on your way to creating beautiful art-to-wear, wall hangings and designer household accessories. The possibilities are endless! As extra eye-candy and inspiration there is a gallery of beautiful photos of finished batik pieces.

Batik is a fun, exciting art form and the use of modern materials and methods makes this art technique available to anyone. Keep this book on the shelf for reference and inspiration for future textile projects.