1.30pm Jane Stephens BA Hons Textile Design (Weave) at Falmouth University I came to study at Falmouth as a 61-year-old mature student, having done very little creatively throughout my working life. I was introduced to weave in the first year, and my focus quickly developed as an interest initially in double cloth and then into […]
We are delighted to announce that we are hosting our first annual Natural Dye Symposium. We are thrilled the line up for the symposium this year is 10am-11am Aviva Leigh - ’STRIPS, STRIPES & SATINS’ - Exploring 18th Century Norwich Textiles 11.30am - 12.30pm Isabella Whitworth - Pursuing Purple : Shellfish, Lichen and Mauve 1.30pm-2.30pm […]
’STRIPS, STRIPES & SATINS’ - Exploring 18th Century Norwich Textiles The talk is based on a project that I worked on, with historian Dr Michael Nix, inspired by the brightly coloured textiles that Norwich was famous for. As a textiles graduate from NUA, (Norwich University of the Arts) specialising in weave and natural dyeing, for […]
Pursuing Purple : Shellfish, Lichen and Mauve For the last 12 years Isabella Whitworth has been researching the nineteenth century dye trade in lichen, historically used for making a purple dye called orchil. Her findings unexpectedly linked to two other famous dyes: Imperial Purple and Perkin’s Mauve. A richly illustrated presentation will trace the fascinating […]
AN INDIGO JOURNEY This talk will take you through Luisa’s 10 years of dyeing, learning and working with indigo. From her time living and learning about traditional textiles in Japan, through learning local techniques in India to building an indigo garden in the UK. Luisa will talk about dyeing techniques, painting on cloth, growing indigo […]
Growing and Using your own Dye Garden There is a particular satisfaction and freedom in growing your own dye plants. Even a small growing space can provide a significant amount of dye if you select your plants carefully and nurture them well. Drawing on over 15 years’ experience of dye gardening in Hitchin, Susan and […]
We will be dyeing protein fibres today. Protein fibres are those that come from animal sources: wool, silk, mohair,etc. During the morning session we will mordant our yarns/fabric for dyeing and also use a substantive dye, one that dyes without the need for a mordant. We will also start an experiment using time to exhaust […]
Saturday 31st July. 11am Sign up and join our seasonal, virtual gathering of weavers. Discuss current projects, challenges or inspiration. Gather with a cuppa, a biscuit and something to share and we'll enjoy being together albeit through a computer screen. Louise will offer solutions, suggestions and share handouts, links and notes after each session.
Amanda Hannaford will take you through the whole process, starting with bundles of dry flax straw and ending with long, glossy flax fibres to dress a distaff with and spin. She will demonstrate how to break, scutch and hackle flax, there will be straw available to have a go yourself if you’d like. If that […]
This workshop will run over 2 consecutive Saturdays. 25th September 10am-4pm and 2nd October 10am-12pm. Fair Isle knitting is a traditional stranded knitting technique that originates from the Fair Isle, between Orkney and the Shetland Isles. It is a unique type of fabric that uses the strands of colour work to create a double layer […]
We are delighted to be hosting Jane Deane for a second natural dye workshop, this time focusing on dyeing cellulose fibres. Cellulose fibres (from plants, so cotton, linen, hemp, etc.) differ in their structure from protein fibres from animals. Therefore, they need a slightly different approach when dyeing. This applies to synthetic dyes as well as […]
Weaving 3 End Leno We are delighted to welcome Laura Thomas to The Loom Shed for this Leno Weaving workshop This is a technical yet experimental workshop which will introduce you to the exciting possibilities of the 3-end leno weave structure. This weave structure allows you to create very open fabrics with minimal warp, that […]