Me Musing . . . February 5, 2009 . . . (Birthday Eve!)

What a hoot!

Yesterday we went to the local second hand store and I saw a small table with bird's eye maple veneer I really liked so dear Eb bought it for me for my birthday. It needed some tender loving care, so I orange-oiled it well when we got it home. The knobs need to be changed and I will find two the next time I am in Ashland.

Just when you think yet another piece of furniture won't fit in the Sewing-Studio room . . . it does . . . and it makes a 'just right' writing table for my journaling time. I moved in a little piano stool to use and knew I would have to make myself a round cushion for it as the ones like I made for the kitchen stools were too small.

And 'wonder of wonders' . . . when I picked up the mail today, Susan, my friend in Montague had sent a most wonderful hand-made gift . . . a 'bun warmer' of golden wool over wool padding . . . and it fits PERFECTLY . . . just made for the little stool!

Now I'm sitting on GOLD!

About a week ago, after looking for more information on the web about one of the Japanese artists in the Video 'Textile Magicians',
I found a gallery that sells her weavings and one of the by-lines said, "Persimmon tannin".

I had been wondering if there is another 'natural' dye that was/is used in Japan other than indigo as I don't wear a lot of blue. And those two little words opened up a BIG new area in my creativity!
Of course, I immediately began searching for more information about persimmon tannin and found out it is called 'Kakishibu' and has been used in Japan since at least the 8th century but is virtually unknown in the western world! Right up my alley!!!!!!!!

And in the process of all this I made a new friend when I discovered the website way up in Washington state called Kakishibui. Chris lived in Japan for about 7 years and while there discovered the world of Kakishibu and studied under a Master Teacher there.

Of course, I immediately ordered some of the 'dye'.

Yesterday I got brave enough to try it out. If you are interested in knowing more about it, check out this great article Chris wrote for WeaveZine.

I tried it on some hand-made paper, some wool, some cotton twill and then on a blouse-jacket I had made out of off-white raw silk, trying out a pattern. I don't wear off-white, and it needed something to pizazzzzzzzzz it up anyway, so figured I couldn't hurt it!

Paper on the drying rack and blouse-jacket in the pan

Drying outside

1st dip of garment

2nd dip of garment

There are many amazing features to Kakishibu as it is a natural dye made from the fermented juice of unripe persimmons . . . a natural living substance . . . so what could be better???? The colour changes with age/maturity (what you see in a month or year later is different than what you got in the first dip) and you get deeper colour by more dipping after each time drying, rather than by just leaving it in the pan longer! All of those traits are what I call 'amazingly magical'!!!!!!!!!

And when you use 'modifiers' on Kakishibu, even more interesting changes occur!

I experimented with baking soda, iron and titanium

Left side: wool dipped in Kakishibu, dried, then dipped in baking soda solution, then iron solution
Right side: raw silk dipped in Kakishibu, dried, then dipped in titanium solution

Colours I got

Kakishibu cloth is stiff when dry because rather than chemically bonding to the fiber (like dyes do), the tannin molecules bind with each other, creating a coloured coating around the fiber. Using a solution of baking soda/water, the fibers soften, but the colour changes also! So my garment went from a soft apricot-beige to mottled brown! (The mottled part was due to 'operator error' as I had forgotten some of the instructions!)

Front

Back

In 'olden times', Kakishibu's astringency and naturally occurring chemicals made it one of the few strengthening and waterproofing agents as well as rot, mold, and insect deterrent. It was also used in sake making!!!

Am sure a 'new life' is in store for this wondrous, non-toxic totally organic product . . . and it's good to know that now I won't rot, mold, or get wet while I am wearing my 'new' blouse-jacket. Maybe it will keep mosquitos away from me also!

Yet another . . . 'remember, you saw it here first' !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Until soon,

Che'usa

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