It’s been a delight spending the month of January teaching a weekly, in-person dye course through Arbutus Folk School. It’s the first time since 2019!
I was asked to incorporate my own Finnish and Sámi heritage traditions into a course designed to introduce the basics of natural dyeing. Nothing could have pleased me more! Called “Introduction to Natural Dyeing: Colors of Heritage and Home,” a full class met at my home four evenings in January.
We began with an introduction to the Indigenous Sámi People, Sápmi (Sámi homeland), several traditional dye sources, and the work of a few Sámi dyers. In the second class, we discussed the overall dye process, beginning with consideration of fiber types, and prepared several fiber samples for dyeing.
In the third class, we dyed our fibers with five different plant sources that included fresh food and medicine as well as dry plant material including extracts. In the fourth class, we “modified” the fibers, yielding 20 color variations! With these, they began to create a sample dye book to take home.
Lastly, I shared some of my own experiences with Finnish dye traditions drawn from several sources in Finland: family, mushroom dye classes, the Finnish dyers’ guild, and dyer friends.
A special bonus was a Zoom call with two wonderful Sámi dyers, Hege Renate Nilsen from the Norwegian side of Sápmi and Jane Helppi from the Finnish side. They shared some of their personal dye practices, along with the reasons that Sámi dye traditions are so important to sustain.
Students in the class were invited to think about ideas for a dye project potentially linked to their own heritage. I invited them to reach out for any support they might need to carry out their project idea. (You could do the same by joining the 2nd Tuesday “Color Collective” – a free conversation on Zoom: )
I was so happy getting back to sharing the joys of natural dyeing. Thank you so much, Arbutus! I look forward to teaching more through Arbutus in the future. In the meantime, check out ‘I Found the Colors’ to see what’s in store for February! Keep 2023 colorful!
