Online Workshop: Foundation Course in Natural Dyes With Kathy Hattori

Description

Foundation Course in Natural Dyes with Kathy Hattori

Online via Zoom Saturday June 7 & Sunday June 8, 2025

10AM-12PM Pacific Time

We invite you to join us for one of our most exciting classes: A Foundation Course in Natural Dyes.

One of the greatest pleasures in exploring natural dyes are the endless possibilities of creating color with plants and flowers. If you’ve been bitten by the natural dye bug, natural dyes will become a lifetime of learning for you. But first, you need a solid base.

In this online workshop, we will learn to create a beautiful and harmonious palette of hues using natural dye extract concentrates and foraged natural dyes that you find locally. You will see how easy it is combining shades and modifiers to create colors that can work on their own or form a foundation for fun experiments and discoveries.  You will learn the tips and tricks that we use in our own practice and production studio and how simple changes can produce surprising results.

The class will work with the dyes and auxiliaries contained in the Botanical Colors Beginner Kit.  However, you will also supply your own locally foraged dyestuffs (we show you how), and we provide a complete list of materials so if you already have the dyes, you can use them for the workshop.

We will emphasize how to create beautiful color using the least amount of water and energy possible along with guidance for keeping notes and samples and how to evaluate your results.

It’s easy to become overwhelmed, but there is a method to the natural color world. This is a class that will help you gain understanding and confidence with approaching your natural dye practice. We’ll be with you every step of the way!

We will cover

• Scouring
• Mordanting
• Dyeing with natural dyes
• Color overdyes
• Modifiers – pH color changers and iron
• We will discuss foraging hints and tips and how to use both mordant and dye baths again for save water and money.

Format

You will receive instructional PDFs for pre-work on how to set up a studio space in a limited area, how to select fabrics and why, how to scour and mordant protein or cellulose fabrics for the workshop, and what to have ready when you want to get started.  This PDF is available for download upon purchase.

Details

This workshop is set up as a detailed demonstration that includes step-by-step instructions.  We will discuss terminology, techniques and documenting your results. You will get the most out of this workshop if you watch the demonstrations and presentation and do the work on your own.  This way we maximize our time together so you can practice these concepts at your own pace.

Materials and Equipment

If you purchase the Botanical Colors Beginner Dye Kit, you will have the majority of dyes and ingredients you need for this workshop. If you’ve already used part of your kit, our workshop uses small amounts, so check with us to see if you will need to order some supplies. You will need to provide your own fabric, and you can use cotton and wool fabrics, which is what we used, or other natural fibers such as silk, linen and hemp.  If possible, try to experiment with one plant-based fiber (cotton, linen, hemp) and one protein-based fiber (wool, silk, alpaca).

If you prefer to work out of your current Botanical Colors stash, please check the note below for the ingredients to have on hand.

Supplying your own dye ingredients? If you choose to provide your own Botanical Colors dyes and mordants, please have the following ingredients available.  Aluminum triformate, soda ash, citric acid, tannin powder (either gallo-tannin extract or ground oak galls), iron powder, logwood liquid, madder extract, and fustic extract.

Equipment Needed

• Approximately 3/4 yard each cotton and wool fabric.  You may substitute other fibers as well and your results may differ slightly.
• A large enameled canning kettle or stock pot, approx. 16-20 quart size and 13 or 14 inches in diameter.  Note:  it’s easiest if the pot is about
• A heat source such as a hot plate.
• 6 wide mouth Mason (Ball) Jars (the quart or 32 ounce size).
• A digital scale that weighs in grams
• An assortment of containers such as glass jars, cup and quart-sized yogurt containers for weighing and mixing ingredients
• An apron, dust mask and gloves
• A notebook and pen
• Measuring spoons
• Longer handled stirring spoons or plain chopsticks (for the Mason jars)
• A digital thermometer or candy thermometer
• Tongs
• Blue tape and Sharpie for labeling
• Rags for spills and drips
• A place to hang your samples to dry

The structure of the workshop

Day 1  

We will send you the Zoom link and PDF preparation instructions. The information will cover the basics of scouring and mordanting. We will also review studio tools and setup.

A second PDF will be distributed just before the workshop with instructions including dye recipes and is the guide that we will use for our learning session.

Our demonstration will show how to measure and weigh fibers and dyes, how to set up your sample dye pots and then we’ll start dyeing!

Day 2 

We continue with our dye experiments and complete our color palette along with expanding shades by using simple modifiers.  Learn our methods of dramatic or subtle color changes and observe how the dyes work with each fabric to gain understanding of how to choose fabrics for your project.  We will also cover note-taking and, foraging and how to extend the life of tannin, mordant and dye baths.

Questions? Please email us at [email protected] for any questions.