Introducing Sabrina Sachiko Niebler
Sabrina Sachiko Niebler is a shifu weaver, paper thread maker, and natural dyer. She loves working with the tactile nature of fibre. Her particular area of interest is in the quiet and precise beauty of making kami-ito (paper thread) and fine shifu (paper cloth).
During her undergrad at the Alberta University of the Arts, Sachi started weaving with printed paper as a way to imbed text, literally, into cloth. After having woven a portrait of her Obaachan, Sachi fell in love with weaving paper and it never stopped being a source of material pleasure and intrigue. It wasn’t until years later that she discovered the time honoured Japanese practice of creating paper thread and weaving it into cloth. This connected her to a part of her heritage in an unexpected way, and sparked a desire for deeper understanding. Since then, Sachi has been steadily practicing this method of creating with the help of many generous hands and minds. She deeply enjoys the slow process which has somehow always felt innate to her hands and material sensitivity.
Can you tell us a little bit about your practice?
I work with a time-honoured Japanese process of turning washi (Japanese paper) into kami-ito (paper thread) and then weaving it into shifu (woven paper cloth). This involves folding, cutting, rolling, separating, and twisting the washi into thread, boiling or dyeing it, and finally weaving it into fabric. It is a slow and beautiful process which involves dedication, sensitivity and a deep appreciation for handwork.
Not only is the process engaging for the senses, it also creates space for embodied wholeness. For me, the practice of making Shifu has always been a place of care - where presence and energy are given to create the work, while simultaneously flowing back to me as the maker. The craft creates me, as much as I create it. As such, I love thinking about the potential for this caring energy to be embedded into the very fibre of the cloth, as each thread is formed by me inch by inch and then woven into place.
Where did you learn your craft?
I started weaving with paper in my undergrad at the Alberta University of the Arts. I was weaving a tapestry of my obaachan and I wanted a way of including written stories about her, literally imbedded into the cloth; so I thought I would use paper to do that. I wrote on the paper, twisted it into a thick yarn and then wove it into the background of the tapestry. After that, I fell in love with weaving with paper and kept working with it. It wasn’t until about 5 years later that I discovered there is an actual historical Japanese practice of turning paper into thread and cloth. It was an extraordinary moment of discovery because it connected this very natural inclination towards this craft to a deeply rooted Japanese practice of it. In this way, it connected me to a part of my heritage.
Since then I have been practicing this craft in the traditional way. I learned through books, (A Song of Praise for Shifu by Susan Byrd and Kigami & Kami-Ito by Hiroko Karuno), and most notably, by visiting Susan Byrd who generously shared what she learned from shifu weaver Sadako Sakurai-san in Japan. That, and of course lots of practice.
Do you have a first memory or a favourite childhood memory of textiles?
When I was a kid I had this scrap piece of fabric that was stretchy and bright pink with little black triangles on it. I loved that cloth. It provided endless hours of play and when I think of it now, I remember how warm I felt when I was holding it.
It is quite remarkable to think about how we are literally born into cloth and then how we grow older with such an intimate relationship to textiles - they protect us, warm us, become an expression of the self, literally a second skin. Yet for something so vital to our daily lives, it’s not something most people consider on a deeper level, especially in this “throw-away” culture. If we really consider how textiles are made and who makes them, it might shift the way we select them for ourselves and for the ones we love. In the very least, pick something you love that will last. Pick something you actually care about, and then show it that care. I think it grows an awareness that informs not just how we think of textiles, but how we care for other things around us, and by extension, the people around us.
What is it about working with kami-ito (paper thread) and shifu (paper cloth) you are drawn to?
It is hard to pinpoint exactly what it is about something that feels so natural to my hands and heart. There are a lot of things about it that resonate. The feel and aesthetics of the washi as it is being turned into thread and then woven - each step, right from the very start is alluring. The thoughtfulness of the practice, the slow methodical movements. Time spent in the energy of washi, kami-ito and shifu is always well worth it to me.
What has inspired you recently?
Recently I had the pleasure of travelling in Japan with Susan Byrd. We have visited there together several times before to meet some incredible shifu weavers and paper makers. This time we visited some of the same shifu weavers and met a few more, along with a paper maker at his studio. We travelled to some famous paper making/shifu towns, museums, and ended the trip with some hands-on sukumo indigo dyeing with a wonderful husband and wife team in their traditional Japanese home. Everything about that trip was inspiration! There’s too much to go into detail here, but I have to say that truly, there is no enrichment like the one you get by being in the presence of skillfully made textiles and getting to ask questions of their creator, (especially while being fed tea and sweets!). My deepest gratitude goes out to all the people we met who took the time to share and graciously host us, and all the people who helped us along the way. Susan has shared some of the trip on her instagram @byrds.nest and it is well worth looking through.
Do you have any exciting projects coming up that you can share with us?
I’m looking forward to making more shifu garments in the near future. Shifu is such a wonderful cloth to wear and I would like to explore this potential further while also harkening back to the origins of shifu in the form of clothing. How farmer and fishermen’s wives and daughters would turn their old record books into thread, and then weave it into clothing because it’s what they had. It is such an inventive way of reusing spent materials and the coats that were made had all these little black flecks throughout them from the writing. How charming. It is quite special to work with a medium that has threads of history running throughout it. Sometimes in a way that feels personal.
During her undergrad at the Alberta University of the Arts, Sachi started weaving with printed paper as a way to imbed text, literally, into cloth. After having woven a portrait of her Obaachan, Sachi fell in love with weaving paper and it never stopped being a source of material pleasure and intrigue. It wasn’t until years later that she discovered the time honoured Japanese practice of creating paper thread and weaving it into cloth. This connected her to a part of her heritage in an unexpected way, and sparked a desire for deeper understanding. Since then, Sachi has been steadily practicing this method of creating with the help of many generous hands and minds. She deeply enjoys the slow process which has somehow always felt innate to her hands and material sensitivity.
Can you tell us a little bit about your practice?
I work with a time-honoured Japanese process of turning washi (Japanese paper) into kami-ito (paper thread) and then weaving it into shifu (woven paper cloth). This involves folding, cutting, rolling, separating, and twisting the washi into thread, boiling or dyeing it, and finally weaving it into fabric. It is a slow and beautiful process which involves dedication, sensitivity and a deep appreciation for handwork.
Not only is the process engaging for the senses, it also creates space for embodied wholeness. For me, the practice of making Shifu has always been a place of care - where presence and energy are given to create the work, while simultaneously flowing back to me as the maker. The craft creates me, as much as I create it. As such, I love thinking about the potential for this caring energy to be embedded into the very fibre of the cloth, as each thread is formed by me inch by inch and then woven into place.
Where did you learn your craft?
I started weaving with paper in my undergrad at the Alberta University of the Arts. I was weaving a tapestry of my obaachan and I wanted a way of including written stories about her, literally imbedded into the cloth; so I thought I would use paper to do that. I wrote on the paper, twisted it into a thick yarn and then wove it into the background of the tapestry. After that, I fell in love with weaving with paper and kept working with it. It wasn’t until about 5 years later that I discovered there is an actual historical Japanese practice of turning paper into thread and cloth. It was an extraordinary moment of discovery because it connected this very natural inclination towards this craft to a deeply rooted Japanese practice of it. In this way, it connected me to a part of my heritage.
Since then I have been practicing this craft in the traditional way. I learned through books, (A Song of Praise for Shifu by Susan Byrd and Kigami & Kami-Ito by Hiroko Karuno), and most notably, by visiting Susan Byrd who generously shared what she learned from shifu weaver Sadako Sakurai-san in Japan. That, and of course lots of practice.
Do you have a first memory or a favourite childhood memory of textiles?
When I was a kid I had this scrap piece of fabric that was stretchy and bright pink with little black triangles on it. I loved that cloth. It provided endless hours of play and when I think of it now, I remember how warm I felt when I was holding it.
It is quite remarkable to think about how we are literally born into cloth and then how we grow older with such an intimate relationship to textiles - they protect us, warm us, become an expression of the self, literally a second skin. Yet for something so vital to our daily lives, it’s not something most people consider on a deeper level, especially in this “throw-away” culture. If we really consider how textiles are made and who makes them, it might shift the way we select them for ourselves and for the ones we love. In the very least, pick something you love that will last. Pick something you actually care about, and then show it that care. I think it grows an awareness that informs not just how we think of textiles, but how we care for other things around us, and by extension, the people around us.
What is it about working with kami-ito (paper thread) and shifu (paper cloth) you are drawn to?
It is hard to pinpoint exactly what it is about something that feels so natural to my hands and heart. There are a lot of things about it that resonate. The feel and aesthetics of the washi as it is being turned into thread and then woven - each step, right from the very start is alluring. The thoughtfulness of the practice, the slow methodical movements. Time spent in the energy of washi, kami-ito and shifu is always well worth it to me.
What has inspired you recently?
Recently I had the pleasure of travelling in Japan with Susan Byrd. We have visited there together several times before to meet some incredible shifu weavers and paper makers. This time we visited some of the same shifu weavers and met a few more, along with a paper maker at his studio. We travelled to some famous paper making/shifu towns, museums, and ended the trip with some hands-on sukumo indigo dyeing with a wonderful husband and wife team in their traditional Japanese home. Everything about that trip was inspiration! There’s too much to go into detail here, but I have to say that truly, there is no enrichment like the one you get by being in the presence of skillfully made textiles and getting to ask questions of their creator, (especially while being fed tea and sweets!). My deepest gratitude goes out to all the people we met who took the time to share and graciously host us, and all the people who helped us along the way. Susan has shared some of the trip on her instagram @byrds.nest and it is well worth looking through.
Do you have any exciting projects coming up that you can share with us?
I’m looking forward to making more shifu garments in the near future. Shifu is such a wonderful cloth to wear and I would like to explore this potential further while also harkening back to the origins of shifu in the form of clothing. How farmer and fishermen’s wives and daughters would turn their old record books into thread, and then weave it into clothing because it’s what they had. It is such an inventive way of reusing spent materials and the coats that were made had all these little black flecks throughout them from the writing. How charming. It is quite special to work with a medium that has threads of history running throughout it. Sometimes in a way that feels personal.