Coral Bingata

As with so much of my inspiration I found this pin on pinterest, 

and unlike the 100s of other pins 

this one stuck in my mind till I completed it.

Only problem is it takes you to a dead end. Fortunately I'm in half a dozen local craft related facebook groups and someone shared information on where she had gone to try her hand at coral bingata. So I pinned this so I had information when I was ready:

But I'm getting ahead of myself. For those of you who don't know what bingata is it is a textile dying technique that either uses wax, a stencil or coral fossil to created the pattern. I've see examples many examples, but my visit to Shuri Ryusen helped me understand how labor intensive the process is.

 The top floor is set up with fabric on a roll where the design elements are added in stages.

I really wish I'd focused more photos on the designs than trying to show the set-up.

Maybe I'll use that as an excuse to visit again. ;)

Anyway on the second floor we received a brief instruction on the process.

Then my husband and I were literally left alone in this room with four tables set up like this.

So of course after trying two of the coral on our table my husband proceeds to try coral from every other table and both the giant coral that had their own table. I'd have never thought to use anything other than what was set before me, but I'm glad he did because every coral was different.

 

This one is as big as a stool!

 

Well, here's what we ended up with. I made a tote bag and he made a t-shirt.

Here are some of the more traditional bingata pieces I have in my home.

 Above is a representation of Shuri Castle and below...

oh I've forgotten what I was told about this one.

I really should learn what that flaming turtle means though.

Next is a tiny snippet of a piece of fabric I bought from Shuri Ryusen.

 Finally some mass produced fabrics mimicking the bingata style.

Hope you enjoyed this. 

If you'd like to learn more there's a great video on youtube.

For those of you who read my Gotochi post at 3min in you'll hear sanshin music.

When you know better you do better, right?

UPDATE: It's not wax, but a starch or seaweed paste that's used to make the blank space in the stencil designs. It can also be piped out (think cake decorating) to make original designs.

Thanks for stopping by!