Just a Little Patience

Those beautiful spirals! Few folds are as mesmerizing as the infamous pleated spiral! It took me years to understand the concept of a pleated spiral, and years after that to understand how fabric behaves and how to get it to do something so organized from center to edges. The pleated spiral takes some patience and dedication. Even to this day this fold can be challenging for me. I remember the first pleated spiral I created. I think it contained something like 12 pleats and took me over an hour to finish folding. Each time I have done this fold I have gotten a little better. 15 pleats... 20 pleats... 25 pleats... They still take me about 30-40 minutes to complete and not every attempt is successful. Not gonna lie- I've been known to crumple up a pleated spiral attempt and throw it in the hamper in frustration with the process! Ha!

The fold itself is a work of art, and so much time is invested in the fold that color application becomes a little nerve-racking because you don't want everything to go wrong now that the fold is complete! Laying color on a pleated spiral is just as important as the fold itself!

If all goes well, the finished product is a glorious masterpiece of a perfect spiral and well worth every moment of time invested! All spiral tie dyes are beautiful, but pleated spirals just offer that little something extra that you can't help but stare at and get lost in!