A Short Shibori Dyed Stitched Cloth: Hemp Leaf Itajime Pattern

mid twentieth century
18" x 12 1/4", 45.75 cm x 31 cm

This lightweight cotton cloth measures, as shown as 18" or 45.75 cm in length, when in reality as it is twice that since this is a length of cotton that has been stitched as a "tube," short end to short end.

It could have been intended to be a diaper and it is dyed in the itajime shibori or clamp dyed method.  The cotton would have been folded in a series of specified folds, then clamped, and then the edges would have been dyed. 

The result is this bold design, stylized hemp leaf or the asa no ha pattern, shown as a field of blue on white.

The cloth is in seemingly unused condition with just a light patina from age.

Really lovely.