Botanical Silk Dyeing Workshop

TIME: 9:45 arrival for start at 10am – 12.30pm

Learn how to create beautiful, colourful designs on British Peace Silk with dried or fresh botanicals as natural dyes, using a binding and steaming process. With this environmentally friendly process, you can achieve a variety of results using colours derived from just botanical elements. You will take away at least one finished silk scarf, a perfect and unique Christmas present for a friend or as an addition to your own wardrobe.

The workshop will be held within the Aromadome, at Keyneston Mill and will be taught by Tanya Glynn a Dorset based Fashion and Textiles designer who has instructed garment construction for over 10 years. She will be assisted by Lesley Davies a locally based corset designer.

Suitable for beginners, the workshop will start with an introduction to the flowers, roots, and pigments you will be using to dye the fabric. You will also discover which fabrics, botanical elements, soaps and mordants are best to use to help dyes stay colour fast. This will be followed by a demonstration of rolling and folding techniques, also an unravelling of a bundle to show the effects you can achieve.

You will then have some time to explore the creative process yourself. It is a very expressive way of working, so you can have fun with it! Tanya and Lesley will be around to help.

Once everyone has a bundle streaming on the pot, Tanya will talk through how to get the best out of the colour, including washing and care instructions. After an hour or so, and once the bundles have cooled, they can be unravelled and hung to dry. Before leaving, the fabric can be ironed ready for you to take it home.

Please note: there will be an additional fee of £25 on the day, to cover materials including British Peace silk fabric. A selection of Bundle dying kits to take home will be available to purchase on the day.