At Mr X Stitch we love to review textile art and embroidery books for you. There are so many great books to discover, packed with needlework inspiration and textile techniques, so we dive into each book to find out what’s good, what’s bad and let you know why you should pick it up.
Introduction
Shibori is a technique often associated with Japan, Africa, India and South America. It is found in fashion, adorning dresses and tunics. With Shibori for Textile Artists by Janice Gunner, we can try the technique ourselves with a full guide into many different ways to use the technique.
Who is it aimed at?
Due to its clarity, this book is aimed at all abilities, whether you are a quilter, textile artist or embroiderer, there will be something you can learn or be inspired by.
About the Artist
Janice Gunner is a textile artist, quilter and author, who has been embroidering and creating textile art since the young age of 5. With over 44 years of experience quilting and 23 years of teaching, Gunner is the perfect author to teach us the art of Shibori.
Content
The book has eight chapters, beginning with the history of Shibori, and then heading into the many different ways to achieve the technique.
There is a wide variety of ideas throughout as to how to achieve the technique, which means no matter what your preferred method of working is, there’ll be something for you within. This gives the book a wide scope, meaning you can return again and again to learn something new.
What makes it special
We often see this technique on clothing, but Gunner here introduces how we can use our dyed fabric in techniques we may be more familiar with such as Quilting and Patchwork. The pieces of fabric can be used for any project, again making the scope of the technique pretty endless.
The instructions are particularly detailed with thoroughly illustrated guides showing every step of the project. If you are a visual learner, this book is certainly for you.
Photography
As with all books published by Batsford, the photos used to illustrate the work are never pixilated or of bad quality.
Throughout we have some close-up shots of the fabrics, detailing all of the tones and details. It’s great to see all of the colours that can be achieved with the relief dyes, it adds some great dimension.
Conclusion
Throughout Shibori for Textile Artists by Janice Gunner, we have a fantastic guide on many different ways to achieve Shibori dyeing, adding some beautiful pattern to our lives. A great social technique as well as a solo one…really there is no excuse, clear your kitchens and get going.
Shibori for Textile Artists by Janice Gunner is available to purchase simply by clicking on this link!
