Katazome is the craft of Japanese stencil dyeing (See About Katazome). Traditionally used to make both indigo blue and white cotton for summer kimonos and country bedding, as well as colored silks, it is now almost a lost art in Japan.

I have cut the intricate stencils for the fabrics I sell over the past 10 years, primarily for my own pleasure. Some are adapted or derived from a variety of copyright free sources and some are original designs. Once they were finished, I decided to make a limited amount of indigo katazome fabrics for sale to quilters, so others could use these lovely patterns also.

The actual fabrics are a darker blue than they appear in the web catalog. Use the images just to choose a pattern.

I use only PFD Kona cotton. To achieve a good dark blue that will not crock or run requires multiple dips in the vat to slowly build up the color, a process that takes several days. The fabric is then thoroughly washed and should require no further treatment before sewing.  The different kinds of patterns available are briefly described below. I can custom dye these fabrics, Contact me for information.

repeat patterns  1/6 yd - one repeat of a traditional pattern
          pictorial  1/6 yd - traditional pattern not repeating
              pairs  1/6 yd - two separate images
   family crests  fat 1/4 - 11" diameter crests 
  larger images  fat 1/4 - size varies, most about 14x14"
     sets of four  fat 1/4 - four 7" related images