I’ve been thinking about what inspires me and how I can incorporate that into my sewing. I’ve been looking at a lot of info on indigo and shibori, rust dyeing, eco printing, and natural dyeing. Australian artist and natural dyer, India Flint, seems to be the foremost authority on these things. I follow her on Instagram and everything from what she dyes to her cute dog are fun to look at. Her Instagram is @prophet_of_bloom.

There are a couple places in Oregon where I can take some classes on natural dyeing and hope to this next year. The Eugene Textile Center has classes on Natural Dyes and Mushroom Dyes. They also have an event called Fiber in the Forest listed on their website. This takes place in May southwest of Eugene and is a multi-day event. They have an indigo and shibori workshop listed for 2018, which would be right up my alley. More info is on the ETC site.

WildCraft Studio also has workshops on Natural Dyes. If you live in the Portland area they may be a good resource for you. They also have a wide variety of classes for different interests. I haven’t taken any of their classes but they look wonderful. There may be more resources out there but these are the two I know about in my area.

I’ve done tie dyeing since high school when my mom experimented with fiber reactive dyes for her quilting. I have also done gradation/rainbows of 24 fat quarters using fiber reactive dyes. It’s fun to do and depending on how you apply the dye and how often you turn your containers with the dye and fabric in it, it will determine how much mottling you get. I haven’t experimented with tub dyeing or washing machine dyeing but those techniques are supposed to give you more of a solid color rather than the mottling you get with plastic bags or mason jars. Here’s a picture of the rainbow gradation I did last summer.

I also wanted to finish this post with a quick note about the links I share. I share them as a resource for my reader. I don’t receive any compensation for you clicking on them.

Camille