Indigo Dyeing - with Clare Smith
$106.00 - $124.00
8 March
Explore a diverse range of shibori techniques, including folding, clamping, wrapping, and stitching, to prepare fabric for dyeing in a communal indigo vat. Each student will have the opportunity to dye 2-3 meters of fabric, perfect for quilting, embroidery, or clothing construction.
About Clare Smith:
I am a Textile artist and costume maker who specializes in surface design (dyeing and printing on fabric). I have a Teaching Diploma, a Graduate Diploma in Visual Arts from Whitireia Art School, and a Diploma in Costume Construction from Toi Whakaari. (the New Zealand Drama school). Between 2018-2022, I studied Raranga (Maori Weaving) at Te Wananga o Aotearoa.
I have been teaching fabric dyeing, screen printing, fabric collage, and machine quilting since 1996. I currently teach a block course in costume dyeing and finishing at the New Zealand Drama School and exhibit my quilts and wall hangings internationally. Over the last 3 years, I have also been weaving kete (basket weaving).
Needs list:
$20 materials fee includes the following:
- Indigo
- Mordants
- Use of shared items such as teaspoons, plastic, string, marbles, etc.
Fabric Requirements:
- 2-4 m cotton/ fine linen or silk fabric.
- Cotton must be pre-washed in very hot water and ironed.
- Finer cottons such as lawn are better.
- NB Calico does not take the dye well.
- Optional extra– small garments such as t-shirts, doileys, small towels or tea towels. These can be dyed at the end of the day if there is still colour left in the vat.
- Cotton, silk or linen thread can also be dyed.
General Requirements:
- Strong thread, such as Buttonhole thread or crochet cotton
- Needle (of a size suitable for the thread)
- Rubber gloves and an apron
- 10 clothes Pegs (labelled with your initials)
- Fabric scissors
- Plastic bags to take wet stuff home
- Plastic woodwork clamps (I have some, but they get used up pretty quickly)
- A bucket for rinsing fabric.
- An old towel or Chux cloths for mopping up spills
If you want to do some of the folding and stitching of samples beforehand (this is optional), this book has lots of patterns to try and is available in most libraries.
Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing. By Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, Mary Kellogg Rice and Jane Barton.
Note regarding payment:
When you check out, we offer two payment options - internet banking or credit card. Internet banking is preferred. We pay fees for credit card payments.
On completing your order, you'll be given the bank account number.