tie dye

Everyone’s Got the Blues…Indigo Pillow Round-Up

Was it this room in the October 2010 issue of Lonny that started it?

Or this one in the November 2010 issue of Elle Decor?

Either way, I don’t know the answer, but it is no longer just my own selective perception. I figure everyone must be tired of ikat and suzani throw pillows, as every time I turn around (or actually, click on a link) I come across indigo pillows, new and vintage, shibori or tie dyed, sashiko stitched, wax-resist dyed, printed and other techniques, all reminiscent of or actually made from Japanese textiles. Not a new topic for me at all, but I do think they have gone from being a rarely seen item to being prevalent and readily available. So if you are not here in Japan where you can stop by a shrine sale and pick up Japanese textiles to sew into pillows, or if you like your pillows ready-made, here’s a look at what’s out there.

There are certain places you’d expect to find them of course…John Robshaw for instance (his room is the top one above). The website has tie dyed pillows for sale which I won’t call shibori as I believe they are made in India, not Japan.

Jayson Home & Garden still stocks the Zoe tie dyed pillow in the second photo, but unfortunately they are out of the blue and only have it in sage and plum. Don’t despair as Roni over at The Loaded Trunk has a nice selection of hand tied indigo pillows as well as a full assortment of Moroccan, Kuba cloth, Hmong, Afghan, Mexican, Indian – you name it – pillows from around the world.

Here’s a close up of the big 24 inch pillow on the floor in the photo above. It would make a good substitute for the ones in the Elle Decor photo.

Anupama also has a wide range of global pillows, including this typical shibori circles pillow…

…and this more unusual beehive shibori pattern.

Big shibori furoshiki (wrapping cloths) make great floor pillows as shown here by these from Ouno Design. I recently sourced a great furoshiki that designer and friend Maja Smith is making into one for her Lake Tahoe home. Looking forward to photos of that!

One Kings Lane has had some very authentic looking pillows from a shop called Viridian made from vintage tsutsugaki (literally, tube drawing) textiles, a paste resist method of decoration…

…as well as others made using the katazome (stencil paste resist) method from Erin Taylor of Botanik.

There are also some boro (tattered rags) styles too.

Even mainstream retailers are getting into the game. While Anthropologie is no longer stocking the Japanese inspired bedding and pillows they had last year, Serena and Lily, normally so preppy and demure, has been stepping up their game with an online bazaar filled with vintage accessories as well as their line of linens and furniture. They have also caught a bit of that boro fever…

…and have some new Japanese inspired textiles.

Even Ralph Lauren isn’t being left out with his Indigo Modern Stripe Collection, a dip dyed pillow and sheeting set.

May 20, 2012 By tokyojinja in Color, Interior Design, Textiles Tags: indigo, John Robshaw, pillows, Serena and Lily, shibori, textiles, tie dye

A Little Shibori Feeling From Eskayel and Anthropologie

Shiboru in Japanese means “to wring, squeeze, press.” Although shibori used to be designated as a particular group of resist- dyed textiles, the verb root of the word emphasizes the action performed on cloth, the process of manipulating fabric. Rather than treating cloth as a two-dimensional surface, with shibori it is given a three-dimensional form by folding, crumpling,stitching, plaiting, or plucking and twisting.
-Shibori Textile Museum

Everywhere I turned this summer, Brooklyn based design studio Eskayel was featured, from apartment therapy, to House Beautiful and Lonny. Artist Shanan Campanaro’s unusual abstract patterns drawn from her paintings and then digitally manipulated and expanded as wallpaper and fabric are utterly riveting. I received numerous emails from friends and readers who also had noticed it in the press and wanted to alert me to its beauty.

While her textiles and papers are not in any way shibori (tie-dye) related, every time I looked at them, I couldn’t help but be reminded of it.

Perhaps it is the rich indigo blue colorways?

Or the Rorschach quality the patterns share with shibori?

Here are two classic shibori patterns, tegumo and hinode for comparison with the pillows above. Are you feeling it too?

Even this Galileo basket feels Japanese in shape and nature.

If you are loving her patterns but not interested in indigo, be sure to check out the full website as there are other gorgeous colors and designs.

Last June, the design team at Anthropologie, fascinated by an antique piece of Japanese cloth, traveled to Kyoto in search of more information and inspiration. The result was their “Arimatsu” bedding line. The history of Arimatsu, a town known as the center of shibori, dates back to 1608 and it has been a dyeing center ever since.

A room view of the bedding from the catalog.

You know me, I cannot ever resist an interesting lamp shade. This Arashi shade has classic shibori details. Love the pleating too! Hmmm…where could I use it?

Shibori is not Anthro’s only inspiration. Their Nightbloom bedding series is based on a few Japanese motifs. The central medallions are stylized chrysanthemums, the kamon of the emperor. And the circular pattern is a complicated version of shippou-tsunagi (seven treasures pattern), just recently shown here.