Natural Dyes in the Garden

Flying Pig Farm, Manitou Springs, Colorado

Outdoor Bundle Dyeing

Enjoy spending time face to face with friends and new friends outside in our garden. You can harvest directly from the garden and have fun experimenting with bundle dyeing, a direct press method for creating beautiful patterns and subtle shades. Go home with a beautiful scarf in one workshop.

Outdoor Tataki-zomé (Japanese Flower Pounding)

Join us at the Dye Garden for a workshop using traditional Japanese plant pounding techniques. Harvest natural materials from our garden and use hammers to pound the pigment of these flowers and plants to develop beautiful designs on fabric or paper.

Leaf Prints

In this course we will begin by touring the farm for interesting shapes and texture on leaves, choosing a selection for our design. Students will learn the basics of using block printing techniques to create a monoprint using the leaves they’ve gathered. The results are beautiful! Students will complete one to three printed images on printmaking paper to take with them.

Make Your Own Watercolors

Join us in the dye garden and beyond to collect pigments and inspiration before returning to the studio to grind pigments and add watercolor binder to create your own unique watercolor paint. Tools and ingredients will be provided. Each student will go home with a recipe to make their own paints at home, and one completed pan of watercolor paint.

Cyanotype

Harness the power of the sun and the materials of the garden using this early form of photography for amazing results. Using cyanotype fluid on fabric or paper, arrange your harvest and other small objects into patterns and collaged images. Watch your prints develop with the power of the sun and have your own harvest magically appear.

Dyers Chamomile Shibori

Natural dyeing with chamomile is easy and yields great results! We’ll use our dyers chamomile harvest to dye wool and other fibers to make a beautiful range of yellow colors using a dye bath process. Students can drop off their own wool or silk garment (or wool yarn) to be prepared ahead of time, or use provided fibers for this one day workshop.