Hello there!
Welcome to our 1st blog post!
We plan on sharing with you the different processes, experiences and information we may have on the fabric dyeing process, running an apparel brand and anything interesting in between!
We want to use this as a platform to show you the many unique aspects of OHKI as well as keep a personal diary for us to look back on on our journey.
First of all, thank you for all the people that have supported our brand so far.
It's been an interesting journey so far and we hope to provide you with more funky and cute socks (and more goodies) for you guys in the future !
Because of our great start, we were actually able to visit and observe some factories on Amami Island in Japan, to learn about different methods of dyeing and expand our perspectives on what kind of practices fabric-dyeing veterans implement.
But firstly, where the heck is Amami Island.. Well, it's ...
So why did we go to such a place, so far from home ?
Well, it turns out that Amami Island is famous for its culture of fabric dyeing, especially Mud Dyeing ("Dorozome") and Indigo Dyeing ("Aizome").
What is Aizome 藍染?
Aizome is a process of dyeing fabrics an indigo color through an oxidation of indigo dye, taken from the Japanese indigo (Ai) plant. It is believed to be common in Tokushima Prefecture, but we decided to try out Aizome dyeing in Amami Island, along with our Dorozome Mud Dyeing adventures.
The Steps to Aizome
Here is what the process looked like
1. Choose/ Bring Your Fabric
We went to a place called 夢おりの郷 where we were able to choose from various fabrics.
We chose a Handkerchief Course ( 2000 yen ) and a T-shirt Course ( 3500 yen).
So these prices included the admission fee also.
Or you can pay 2500 yen and bring up to three items of your own to dye.
You can check more info about the place here:
2. Fold and Tie your Fabric
This is where you can use your creative mind !
You are free to tie them in however way you choose, using rubber bands and even popsicle sticks !
The tighter you tie them, the more defined your dyed areas will be. If you want a more looser feel, make sure the bands are loose enough to let in some moisture.
3. Dip into the Dye
The guy told us to dip the fabrics in and out about... 60 times !
And we did three rounds of this ! This is to ensure that all parts of the fabric are fully immersed in the dye. Also, the more oxygen we allow the dye to be exposed to in between each round, the more the dye will oxidize and stain the fabric darker.
4. Dehydration
There was a different section of the room for dehydrating, where there were a few spinning dryers. This is to get rid of excess water that may possibly reduce the intensity of the dye.
5. Repeat several times
We repeated this dipping and dehydrating process at least three times. Since the dye intensifies over time, each time our fabrics were getting darker and darker !
6. Rinse in Vinegar, then Water
Lastly, we first rinsed the fabrics in vinegar to stop them from washing out.
This step is so so important! Even for our OHKI tie dye socks... we definitiley don't want the ink to wash out and lose its color or rub it off onto our skin !
The Finished Product!
We were surprised by the clear distinction between the Aizome and non-dyed parts and the uniqueness of the patterns !
It is usually quite hard to get these clear lines / boundaries but I guess all the dehydrating and dipping was really worth it....
So that's the process !
I hope you can see just how much work it takes to make such beautiful patterns!
We have been looking into making an Aizome variation of our tie dye OHKI socks, but it's been harder than we expected to replicate the process (hopefully will be making a blog post soon on how hard it has been to replicate this Aizome process).
Nevertheless, we are working on something Aizome dyed to release soon so stay tuned !
For our current tie dye socks line up, you can visit our store here.
Thanks for tuning in!
Hope to see you in the next one
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