Many of the plants growing wild around you conceal secret colours that you can use as dyes for wool, silk, angora, and other animal fibres. Some plants produce soft shades while others yield striking and vivid hues that surprise and impress.
Discover which plants to forage for and how; then learn safe techniques for working with them. You’ll look at preparation, temperature and timing when using natural plant dyes. You’ll also learn about mordants – when they’re necessary and when they’re not. Most of all you’ll be encouraged to have fun and experiment.
Tutor: Johanna Knox
Johanna is the author of A Forager’s Treasury: A New Zealand guide to finding and using wild plants. She has written about foraging for numerous magazines, and between 2008 and 2011 she had a regular spot on Radio New Zealand’s This Way Up chatting about foraging to Simon Morton.
She works as an editor at Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, and at Whitireia as a tutor for the Diploma of Creative Writing (Online). She is also the author of The Fly Papers, a children’s fiction series about carnivorous plants. In her spare time she is a keen spinner and dyer.
Notes for Participants: Please bring your own sturdy scissors.
Bookings: Book @ Wairarapa REAP, 340 Queen St, Masterton or on 06-377 1379. Cash or internet payments only
Booking Deadline: Tuesday 1 Oct @ 5pm
Please Note: All workshops have a minimum number of places, which must be filled to run. If that minimum number is not reached you will be notified and receive a full refund from Kokomai.