Introducing Bingata Katazome

Bingata Katazome is a Japanese method of dyeing fabric using a resist paste applied thorough a stencil. The term is divided form a combination of kata (pattern or stencil) and –zome, from the verb someru, to dye.

The central feature of the Bingata Katazome method is the use of a resist paste made from a steamed mixture of rice flour and rice bran. This sticky paste is forced through a cut paper stencil onto a piece of fabric, the stencil is removed, and the paste remaining on the fabric is allowed to dry.

Next, the fabric is coated all over with a sizing of soybean liquid, and when this is dry the color is applied by brush. Finally the paste is washed away, leaving “resisted” or undyed areas that form a pattern against the colored background.

This seemingly simple technique can, in practice, be used to achieve a wide variety of effects. Because the paper stencil can be used over and over, the pattern can be repeated many times down the length of the fabric. This is in essence a form of mass production, but since the dye is painted on by hand, no two segments are ever exactly the same, and a fresh, non―mechanical feeling is always preserved.

Our classes offer hands-on experience in the conventional techniques of Bingata, as well as lectures dealing with the chemistry and application of the dyes.