Indigo Shibori Dyeing with Elisabeth Viguie-Culshaw

Tues 2 August
10am - 4pm

Celebrate sustainable craft with our special programme of sustainability focussed workshops supported by Creative Scotland.

Blue indigo is a substance that has fascinated humankind for generations. As early as 5,000 years ago, our ancestors in India, East Asia and Egypt used the blue dye derived from the Indigofera Tinctoria plant to dye their clothes. Elisabeth Viguie-Culshaw joins us to impart her wealth of knowledge on the subject - join us for a day of dying, experiment with different methods of resist to unleash the pattern making potential of this powerful plant dye.

In this one day workshop, we will learn the basics of Indigo dyeing, get accustomed with using a vat, preparing fabrics for dyeing and using simple resists to create striking patterns on cotton and linen small pieces. We will start by setting up a vat and discovering what makes a great dye pot. We will learn to test it and discover when it is ready to use. While the vat is getting reduced we will prepare some pieces for dyeing by folding, clamping and stitching recycled cotton fabric . After a break for lunch in the garden we will start dyeing, and finally learn to finish our pieces to get a great long term usable printed cloth.

You will leave the workshop with a selection of printed fabrics blue and white as well as basic knowledge about building a quick Indigo vat and using it. You will have the option to build your own vat on the day to take home and use for an additional cost of £25, or you can choose to use a communal vat just in class.

About Your Tutor

Elisabeth Viguie-Culshaw is a French textile artist based in Glasgow. She runs a sustainable Natural dyeing and  Botanical Printing studio, The Lansdowne House. She researches at home and when travelling to South East Asia her eco techniques, she grows Japanese Indigo and other dye plants at home and in The Indigo Plot a community dye garden in the Glasgow Botanical Garden.  Elisabeth is the creator of The True Colour of the Cotinus project – a global outreach online project which aims at connecting participants from around the world and teaching beginners about Botanical printing and the use of mordants. She reaches out to local community participants in her garden classes in the West end of Glasgow.

• All tools and materials are included in the course cost
• 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. As restrictions ease we might be able to add more spaces to some of our courses. We will add extra dates to our most popular workshops too, join the mailing list to be the first to know