Registration can be found here.
Course Description
Onion skins have a secret. They, like many kinds of plant matter, can be transformed into a palette of brilliant colors—dyes ranging from copper to deep mustard. In this three-part online course, we’ll learn how to create natural dyes using everything from kitchen scraps to foraged plants. We’ll begin with the basics, learning the tools and terms needed to get started before setting up a dye bath and diving into the process. Not only will we use food scraps, plant dye powders, and extracts to color textiles, but we’ll also learn how to forage for regional dyestuff, depending on your local ecology. By the end of this workshop, you’ll walk away with a palette of fabrics dyed using local plants or extracts and powders, as well as a repeatable method for creating color from the contents of your compost bin.
Syllabus at a Glance
This course includes three total sessions, each lasting for 1.5 hours on three consecutive Tuesdays beginning December 5.
Session 1 (Tuesday, 12/5, 7:30-9 PM ET) | Materials, Mordanting, and Kitchen Waste Dyes
Session 2 (Tuesday, 12/12, 7:30-9 PM ET) | Immersion Dyeing with Flowers, Bundle Dyeing, and Resist Methods
Session 3 (Tuesday, 12/19, 7:30-9 PM ET) | Immersion Dyeing with Foraged Items, Understanding pH Shifts and making Inks
Materials
Session one will include a deep dive into dyeing materials. Students who wish to dye along with the course in real time will need to gather the materials listed below. Please reach out to experiences@atlasobscura.com if you have any questions about course materials.
fiber (any natural materials like silk, wool, or plant materials are a good candidate)
mordants (potassium aluminum sulfate for animal fibers and/or aluminum acetate for plant fibers)
wheat bran or calcium carbonate for plant fibers
a notebook
stainless steel or nonreactive metal pot with lid dedicated to dyeing and not used for cooking or food preparation
a heat source (kitchen, portable burner, outdoor fire pit, etc.)
kitchen scale
tongs
rubber gloves
various spoons or small whisks for stirring and dissolving
sieve, strainer, or cheese cloth
assortment of buckets, bowls, or vessels for mixing and gather water and making smaller dye baths
Pricing Options
This course is available at three ticket prices. This tiered pricing model is designed to increase access for a wider range of students as well as to support our instructors. In addition to tiered tickets, we offer a limited number of no-pay spots for students who would not otherwise be able to take this course. No-pay spots are selected via a randomized drawing two weeks before each section begins. For more information and to apply for a no-pay spot, please click here. To learn more about our pricing model and randomized selection process for no-pay spots, please visit our FAQ page.