Indigo Dyeing

Join artist and nature enthusiast Liz Gaffney for an immersive Indigo Dyeing workshop, perfect for beginners and those looking to refresh their skills. Over the course of the day, you’ll uncover the ancient magic of indigo and its historic Scottish equivalent, woad — exploring their fascinating history and cultural significance. You’ll create your own indigo dye vat using the 1-2-3 fructose method, which you’ll take home to continue your experiments. Learn how to prepare fabrics and papers for dyeing, and master the key technique of excluding oxygen, which is crucial for achieving the perfect indigo blue.

You’ll also be introduced to the art of shibori — a Japanese resist dyeing method that includes folding, tying, and stitching to create beautiful patterns. Indigo’s versatility allows it to be used on recycled fabrics, giving new life to old textiles without the need for mordants.

By the end of the day, you’ll leave with a working indigo vat to further experiment with at home, along with a collection of dyed fabric and paper samples to showcase your new skills. You’ll also have a deeper understanding of the historical significance of indigo and woad, and be inspired to grow your own dye plants in your garden.

A wide selection of fabrics and papers will be provided, but you’re welcome to bring along your own small, well-scoured pieces to add a personal touch to your creations.

About Your Tutor

Liz Gaffney’s journey with textiles has led me to many countries, places and communities around the world, and after a recent move to Fife she has decided to concentrate on teaching the skills she knows and loves best. 

“Craft is such an important language to communicate with one another and within ourselves. I am passionate to share that knowledge with others, to ignite an essential creative spark that is inside each and everyone of us. To connect with the world around us and our own personal worlds. Connecting with nature in my beautiful landscape through growing , foraging and using natural materials for my dyeing. Really getting to know the plants by growing and propagating and of course celebrating their gifts.”

• All materials will be provided for your Indigo Dyeing workshop. You’re welcome to bring along your own small pieces of fabric but these need to be thoroughly cleaned beforehand to remove any oil or dirt.
• Tea and coffee are provided but participants should bring their own lunch and utensils.
• All of our classes are suitable for over 16s, younger crafters may be accommodated if accompanied by a participating adult but please contact us before booking
• If the workshop you were looking at is fully booked drop us an email and we’ll add you to the waiting list. We will add extra dates to our most popular workshops too, join the mailing list to be the first to know
• All of our workshops are held in our accessible studio at Craft Central, High Street, Dunblane, FK15 0EE
• If you need to cancel or reschedule your workshop we need at least three weeks notice and an administration fee will be applied. Please read our cancellation policy before booking