Botanical printing workshop
Monday, September 30, 2024
Note: this class is full. I’ll be offering more dye classes next summer, which I’ll be announcing via my email newsletter – sign up here if you’re interested!
Botanical printing, a.k.a. eco-printing, is a magical process of creating contact prints with leaves and flowers on cloth.
We’ll experiment with leaves and flowers printed onto linen, cotton, and silk fabrics. For all fibers, the fabric need to be pre-prepped with fixatives to receive the dyes, which I’ll prepare ahead of time.
You’ll come away with five types of fabric samples, including a printed silk scarf, as well as a solid skill base for creating prints at home.
Held at Pumpkin Vine Family Farm in Somerville, 10am – 3pm
$125 includes all materials
Let me know if you’d like to join us!
“Class size was perfect, location stunning, loved each student having their own table… that was especially helpful. You provided just the right amount of information to get us started and then trusted us to use that information to do what we envisioned…”
“It was interesting, intensive and wicked fun!”
“I had a wonderful time yesterday eco printing with you. I now understand just how complicated this process is with its many variables. I had no idea that you were doing so much prep work for us…we only did the exciting fun part. Thank you for setting us up to be so successful. While not all of my flowers and leaves left clear and perfect prints (I now realize that unpredictability is part of the magic) the results I got were beautiful. Many thanks for introducing us to the world of eco printing and helping us turn out such lovely pieces of cloth.”
Past
Mordant printing demo at Belfast Fiberarts:
Creating designs on cloth with natural dyes – October 7, 2023
Mordant printing is an ancient technique for producing patterns and designs on fabric with natural dye colors. Mordants, or metallic salts such as alum and iron, are applied to fabric using blocks or paint brushes. When the piece is introduced to the dye bath, colors from the plant dyes show up in different shades on the cloth. It’s a fun and fascinating process that offers endless possibilities for creative expression.
I’ll be doing demonstrating this process throughout the day on Saturday, October 7th from 11am – 5pm at Belfast Fiberarts in Belfast, ME. Come say hi!
Harvest Festival at Pumpkin Vine Family Farm in Somerville – October 22, 2023
I’ll be back at PVFF’s Harvest Festival with fiber demos and some other goodies for sale. There will also be fresh apple cider pressing, farmer’s market goodies, and other farm-y fun!
Colors From Plants: a presentation at the Rockport Garden Club – November 2, 2023
I’ll be speaking about my natural dye and textile work at the monthly meeting of the Rockport Garden Club on Thursday, November 2nd at 1pm.
All are welcome – this presentation is free and open to the public.
Custom workshops
I offer custom fiber arts workshops on my homestead and at a neighboring farm in beautiful Midcoast Maine, both in groups and one-on-one. If you’re interested, get in touch – I’d love to talk with you about it!
Techniques include:
- Indigo and other natural dye processes
- Japanese shibori printing on cloth – stitch resist, clamping, and other forms of fabric manipulation
- Printing with clay paste resist
- Botanical printing
- Mordant printing with blocks
- Wet felting
