I Found the Colors
Natural Dye Class Schedule | January-April 2020
with Marja Eloheimo
Saturday (9:30-4:30) & Sunday (9:30-12:30), $150 per class
All levels are welcome • All materials are provided • Classes in Olympia
I’VE GOT THE BLUES | January 18-19,
includes kitchen-friendly indigo vat & tie-dye
Blue is the most difficult natural color to create. In this class, we will use four plants to create various blues, including indigo from India and woad from Europe. We will learn a kitchen-friendly approach to complex vat dyeing with both of these plants as well as simpler methods with logwood from Mexico and edible black beans. We will tie-dye four silk scarves and dye fiber samples (including wool yarn) to document our blues. We will also learn about the history of blue as a concept and about the plants we are using, especially indigo. We will even drink naturally blue tea while we listen to the blues!
Register for January ClassCOLORS OF LOVE | February 15-16,
includes natural dyeing, ink making, & block printing
On Valentine’s Day Weekend, we will produce beautiful coral, purple, pink, and magenta dyes sing brazilwood, logwood, avocado, and cochineal—an insect! We will dip-dye small silk gift bags to fill with chocolates. We will create natural ink & print our silk scarves. We will dye samples to document our dye adventures. On Saturday, we will make guacamole to share.
Register for February ClassPLANTS AS DYE & MEDICINE | March 14-15,
making tinctures & aromatic bath salts
Dyeing with plants can be complex. Medicine-making can, too. In this class, we’ll keep it simple and learn kitchen-friendly approaches to natural dyeing and medicine-making from the perspectives of community herbalism. Together, we’ll create medicinal tinctures and aromatic bath salts, along with naturally dyed yarn braids for our tincture jars and small silk bags for our bath salts. We will also dye sample fibers (including wool yarn) to document our medicinal-dye explorations.
Register for March ClassSHADES OF SPRING | April 25-26,
includes eco-print with spring flowers & leaves
Surrounded by the emergence of spring leaves and flowers, this is a wonderful time to create “shades of spring” using the plants themselves. We will use local spring plants to first dye silk scarves and then create beautiful individualized eco-prints. We will also dye sample fibers (including wool yarn) to document our dye adventures.
Register for April ClassEmail: eloheimo@gmail.com
Address provided upon registration