A Wide Stitched Itajime Dyed Loop: Sekka Shibori

mid twentieth century
28 1/4" x 17 1/2", 71.5 cm x 44.5 cm

This shibori dyed cloth measures, as shown as 28 1/4" or 71.5 cm in length, when in reality it is twice that since this is a length of cotton that has been stitched as a "tube," short end to short end.

It is stitched in the style of a traditional Japanese diaper and is dyed in the itajime shibori or clamp dyed method.  The cotton would have been folded in a series of triangular folds, then clamped, and then the edges would have been dyed.  The result is this field of blue on white, kaleidoscopic, six pointed "flowers" or hexagons, the hexagons are a stand-in for the motif of tortoise shell, a symbol of longevity.

The cloth is hand stitched from 1 1/2 loom widths.

The indigo color is still very bright, and the cloth is in good, used condition.

Really lovely.