Natural Dyes

In this introductory workshop, you will explore a variety of natural colours using foraged plants, kitchen scraps and food cupboard items to create handmade dyes for fabric and paper.

Have a go at extracting botanical colours using the Japanese method of hapa-zome and discover the ancient art of shibori and tie-dye to create resist patterns on your own turmeric dyed tote to take home with you.

Learn when and where to forage to yield different colours throughout the seasons, which kitchen scraps to collect and how to store materials before and after extracting your natural dyes.

You will have the opportunity to experiment with different coloured pre-made dyes in combination with using resist techniques such as shibori and tie-dying. Use a variety of botanical materials such as flowers, plants and herbs to create hapa-zome (flower bashing) and bundle dying to enrich your designs.

You will be provided with the materials to create several designs, including a cotton tote and sample materials to experiment with. We would recommend bringing some of your own garments made from natural materials to yield different results such as cotton, hemp, bamboo, wool or silk.

All images by Haidee Drew.