Forest to Fiber: Foraging and Dyeing with Mushrooms

Description

Forest to Fiber: Foraging and Dyeing with Mushrooms

with Julie Beeler, author of The Mushroom Color Atlas

October 9-11, 2026

At Botanical Colors Studio

503 S Michigan St, Ste B

Seattle WA 98108

We are thrilled to welcome Julie back for another forage workshop, this time in the forested Puget Sound area. Join us for an amazing weekend of foraging for dye mushrooms, and creating a beautiful traveling stitching kit with mushroom-dyed threads in the studio!

In this three-day immersive workshop, artist, farmer, and author of The Mushroom Color Atlas, Julie Beeler invites you to explore the extraordinary world of mushroom dyes. We will step into the forest with the hopes of foraging wild dye fungi, and will bring any of our finds into the dye studio to transform them into luminous color for cloth and thread. Together we’ll explore the forest floor, extract, dye, and stitch, moving through the full process of mushroom dyeing to create a finished traveling stitching kit. This workshop is your chance to see how mushrooms can inspire a vibrant palette and leave a lasting mark on your textiles.

This workshop is designed to provide a strong technical foundation in mushroom dyeing while offering an immersive, place-based experience of color. No previous experience is necessary, though it is also a fantastic workshop for practicing dyers. Participants must be comfortable and physically able to spend up to five hours hiking through the forest on and off trail.

Friday starts our adventure with a forage location in the Puget Sound area.  We will be asking for carpool drivers, and if you are willing, please let us know upon registration. Friday’s forage will be held rain or shine.

On Saturday, we reconvene at the Botanical Colors dye studio and begin extracting color from fungi. Working through a range of techniques, we will coax vibrant hues from the mushrooms we collected. Participants will explore how fiber type, mordants, modifiers, and process influence the final color while creating eighteen richly dyed skeins of wool and silk stitching thread to build a nuanced, forest-grown palette. Throughout the day, we’ll discuss best practice and how to continue expanding your mushroom dye work at home. Saturday evening, we will gather for a casual and optional group dinner.

On Sunday, our final day, we bring your color story together. We turn our attention to making and assembling your own handmade traveling stitching kit. Using mushroom-dyed fabrics, you’ll construct a beautiful organizer to store the threads created during the workshop, a functional keepsake and record of your weekend. Participants will also receive an instructional craft booklet featuring mushroom dye recipes and process notes so the learning can continue long after the workshop ends.

EVENT DETAILS

Friday, October 9 – Meet at 8:30 at designated location – carpool drivers needed.

We begin Friday at a local café before heading out together for a full day of foraging in a nearby forest. Rain or shine, the forest is our classroom. We will walk both on and off trail, learning how to identify dye mushrooms, read environmental indicators, and harvest responsibly. Julie will guide you through the fundamentals of mushroom identification and share the ecological stories behind the species we gather. You’ll leave the forest not only with dye material in hand, hopefully, but also with the skills and confidence to find these color-rich fungi again.

Saturday, October 10 – Meet at Botanical Colors Studio – 9:30-3:30

At Botanical Colors Studio, Julie will review all the mushrooms we foraged, and we will prepare dye baths to immerse our threads and fabrics.  The class will work in teams, extracting color and dyeing threads, fabric and other materials to make our traveling stitching kits.

Sunday, October 11-Meet at Botanical Colors Studio – 9:30-3:30

This is the day that we make our handy traveling masterpiece.  We will work to assemble our stitching kits, using hte hand dyed fabrics and complete it with approximately 18 different thread colors with thread holders.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

ACCOMMODATIONS: Lodging is NOT INCLUDED in this event.  Please download the Seattle Trave information if you are coming from out of town.

AIRPORT: Seattle-Tacoma Airport is 30 minutes from Seattle

TRANSPORTATION: There are public transportation options from SEA-TAC airport to Seattle.

You will be responsible for all meals,  including a sack lunch on Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Note: there are numerous cafes and restaurants near Botanical Colors studio.

COME PREPARED: Attendees will need to plan to bring the following items:

Friday’s forest forage

• Sturdy walking boots (closed toe shoes)

• Wear longs pants and long sleeves (walking through forested habitat)

• Pack extra layers to stay warm, including hat and gloves

• Bring waterproof pants and jacket (in case of rain)

• Collecting basket

• Knife for mushroom cutting

• Water bottle

• Sack lunch

Saturday and Sunday’s studio session

• Pen for writing

• Feel free to bring personal pre-dyed embellishments for your travelling stitching kit including swatches, patches, threads, buttons, beads, etc.

• Apron to protect your clothes

• Gloves to protect your hands from hot dye pots

• Water bottle

SKILL LEVEL: No previous experience necessary, though a fantastic workshop for practicing dyers. Students must be comfortable and physically able to spend 5 hours hiking through the forest, on and off-trail including uphill and downhill traverse. Saturday’s session will be held rain or shine. Limited to 12 participants.

CANCELLATION: All sales final and we are unable to offer refunds if you cannot attend.  You are welcome to find someone to take your place, and please notify us as soon as possible if your plans change.

QUESTIONS: email [email protected]

ABOUT JULIE:
Julie Beeler is a designer, artist and educator living at the base of a volcano in Trout Lake, WA. Growing up with a deep love and curiosity for the natural world, she conceived and launched Bloom & Dye along with the Mushroom Color Atlas to grow her work and passion to benefit what she values most: curiosity, education, creativity, collaboration, community, and the environment. For Julie, educating others on how plants, fungi and their colors reflect the beauty of nature is something she is moved to share as a way to inspire care, stewardship and impact. Her textile work is bound up in the landscape; every thread is infused with earthly energy as she gently simmers Mother Nature to unlock her colors. Drawing on cultural traditions and ancient natural dye histories, each textile object is a record of a place and time, reflecting our relationship to the natural world. For seven years she was on the faculty of Pacific Northwest College of Art and Oregon College of Art & Craft in Portland. When she is not out foraging you can find her tending to her flower farm, working in her art studio, or leading workshops.

Did you see Julie on FEEDBACK FRIDAY? Watch the video recording here.