The idea with Kakishibu is to put dry cloth into the dye, then scrunch it up and let it dry in hot sun. The heat and sunlight darken the exposed ares to a nice pinkish brown in a few hours. The longer it's exposed to sun, the darker it gets during the first two weeks. The color apparently continues to darken very gradually for about two years. You can increase the value by dipping more than once into the dye, drying it in between. The raised (darker) areas will retain their "head start" and will remain darker than the rest for the life of the fabric--so your scrunching or pleating takes on a life of its own. We found that the dyed fabric dried very stiff, not too surprising when you realize that the dye is essentially fruit juice. But you're not supposed to wash it too vigorously because you want it to keep darkening. Both Friday and Saturday were hot and still; I came home with an armload of stiff fabric and very sweaty and tired. Still, we had dyed yarns for Pam's weaving, old damask for my stash, some cotton pieces, some scrim. We had dyed a number of silk scarves (I had two that I wasn't satisfied with from prior dye attempts--adding the new color enriched them greatly.)
Today was hot and quite windy. I bought clothesline and clothespins and hung the pieces out in the back yard. You can see them in the photo above, dancing gaily on the line. Here are some more photos: