Fairbanks Fiber Festival Class
Instructor: Blaine Lunsford
Date of the class: Thursday, October 12, 2023
Time of the class: 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Location: Pioneer Park - Cabin 66 (Click link for accessibility information.)
Bundle dyeing is a technique that involves wrapping fabric with plant materials, such as petals and leaves, and allowing their natural pigments to infuse the fabric. In this process, the fabric is tightly bundled with various plant materials, and then steamed or boiled to transfer the natural pigments to the fabric. Vivid colors and intricate patterns are created, making each piece a unique work of art. Each participant will dye their own large habotai silk piece.
After introductions and an opening educational piece, the class will include:
1) Botanical Selection: We will carefully choose petals, leaves, and dye matter. This includes choosing from fresh flowers, pressed flowers collected from the Penny Wakefield Natural Dye Garden in The Georgeson Botanical Gardens this past summer, and pigments from Blaine’s personal studio collection.
2) Arranging the Design: Explore your creativity as you arrange the botanical elements on the fabric.
3) Bundle Creation: Bundle the fabric and botanical treasures, wrapping them with care.
4) Heat and Infusion: Delight in the alchemy of steam or simmering water as we immerse the bundles, allowing the botanical pigments to surrender their vibrant essence to the fabric.
5) Unveiling the Masterpiece: We will unwrap the bundles, revealing the exquisite designs that nature and you have created together!
Blaine opens up the space to discuss creativity and describes key natural dye techniques so participants leave with at home application tools to continue creating new or upcycled textiles. Resources will be provided for participants to utilize, but feel free to bring a notebook to jot down some notes!
All textiles are provided and prepped beforehand with a process called scouring and mordanting to ensure lasting binding dyes on the fiber.
Note: If you are signing up for this workshop and the Indigo Dyeing with The Organic VAT Method workshop, feel free to bring your silk bundle-dyed bandana to dip in the indigo vat, creating more layered hues/pigment combinations!
Check out the Fairbanks Fiber Festival website.
Minimum number of students: 7
Maximum number of students: 12
Age range: 16 to adult
Prerequisites: None
Cost: $50
Materials fee: $17.50
Contact: Blaine Lunsford: blainerene@gmail.com
Pre-registration: This class is pre-registration only. Please register by 2 days before the class begins. Registration will be closed after this time.
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