To create traditional Japanese textiles using the shibori technique, a plant was often plucked, fermented, and reduced to make an indigo dye, and then a piece of fabric was folded, compressed, or twisted, bound, and dipped into it. Consider this project a shortcut: To achieve almost the same effect, you need little more than a length of fabric (nearly any fiber will work), a bottle of blue dye, and a few plastic bins.
The result is a lightweight scarf perfect for crisp fall days that can be wrapped, dangled around your shoulders, or even worn as a belt. The look is elegant but also as loose as the process itself. Choosing a Fabric Different fabrics soak up color in different ways. Experiment with scraps of fabric, the widths of the accordion folds, and the dilution of the dye.
These four scarves are made of, from far left, cotton, bamboo rayon, rayon, and crepe de chine silk. The longer you dip your scarf, the more likely the dye will bleed.
Resources: Cotton gauze scarf, 15" by 60", bamboo rayon scarf, 11" by 60", rayon scarf, 11" by 60", and crepe de chine scarf, 15" by 60", dharmatrading.com. Liquid dye, in Denim Blue, Royal Blue, and Aquamarine, and dye fixative, ritdye.com.