Upcoming Natural Dye Workshops
I'm excited to announce that this June I am teaching two very special Sunday workshops on the world's largest rooftop farm located right in the middle of the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard. The Brooklyn Grange has two rooftop farm locations, and the views from the Brooklyn Navy Yard are superb!
Make sure you don't miss out on this unique opportunity to visit the farm as the rooftop is not often open to the public. The workshops include a tour of the farm too, so you will come away with an understanding not only of natural dyes but urban rooftop farming as well.
Sign up soon as these spots will go very fast!
June 1st- Natural Dyes With Food & Food Scraps 11am-2pm
Hey, don’t throw those flabby old beets away! You might not want them in your soup pot but they can still serve a purpose in the dye pot! Natural dyes can be found all around our day to day lives including at the farmers market and, in this case, up on the roof! Tour the Brooklyn location of our rooftop farm and learn the basics of successful and sustainable natural dyeing using commonly found foods, spices and herbs.
This ain’t the kind of tie dye your camp counselor taught you. We’ll cover two techniques in this course that you can replicate at home to transform your bland, monochrome curtains, bedsheets, tote bags and clothes into homespun works of art! First, we’ll cover immersion dyeing (ombre, anyone?), then we’ll forage for our own dye plants as we take a tour of Brooklyn Grange’s row crops, which we’ll use for the fun and unique practice of bundle dyeing! With limited registration, you’ll be sure to get individual instruction and personal attention.
All materials provided, including silk scarves, silk handkerchiefs, or silk pocket squares.
http://brooklyngrangefarm.com/upcoming/
June 8th- Japanese Resist Itajime Natural Dyeing with Local Plants 11am-2pm
Stop what you’re doing. Google image search “Itajime.” Are you as excited as we are?
This traditional form of folded Shibori resist dyeing yields mesmerizing, vivid geometric patterns that make us want to pull all our curtains off their rods and crease them into kaleidoscopic masterpieces! In this workshop, Liz Spencer of The Dogwood Dyer will cover the basics of this versatile technique, as well as natural dyeing with freshly-harvested, local plants. Come to better understand the colorful bounty that our bioregion has to offer by working with plants foraged from nearby. The experience of using regional, seasonal plants as opposed to dried, extracted or imported powders provides an authentic experience of this age old process, with beautifully diverse results!
All materials provided, including silk scarves, silk handkerchiefs, or silk pocket squares.
Also, I am teaching a new Morning Series class that runs from 10:30am-1:30pm Monday May 19th & Wednesday May 21st at the Manhattan location of the Textile Arts Center.
Natural Dyeing with Local Plants- 10:30am-1:30pm
In this 2 session class, students will get to know the colorful bounty that NYC has to offer by working with fresh plants foraged from the nearby ecosystem. Natural dyeing can be fun, but the experience of using in season & regionally relevant plants as opposed to dried, extracted or imported powders provides a real connection to this age old process. Students will come away with a basic understanding of natural dyeing with fresh raw dye stuffs, including the variance of color results from working with different parts of the plant, different extraction methods, etc.
All materials for sample making and learning the technique are included. Any additional materials will need to be supplied by the student based on their vision.
http://textileartscenter.com/index.php?route=classes/category&path=311