Natural Dyeing with Spring Plants

This event is priced on a sliding scale; please pay what you are able. Suggested pricing is $75 ($60 for MOFGA members.)

Join this hands-on workshop for an introduction to the world of natural dyeing using plant pigments! Indigenous peoples have been dyeing cloth, baskets and other objects for many generations. Many plants and trees growing on this land have been used for this purpose – from bloodroot to black walnut to blackberry.

This workshop will cover the steps involved in natural dyeing as well as some of the rich worldwide traditions of using pigments from plants, insects, and minerals. 

We’ll learn about plants that can be cultivated for dyeing, such as Dyer’s Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria) and madder (Rubia tinctorum), as well as plants that grow wild and can be foraged. We will be focusing on plants widely available in the springtime for this class.

You are encouraged to harvest and bring some dandelions, daffodil flowers, and/or willow leaves, from your yard or farm to add to our dye pots, and we will start the morning with a foraging walk on the MOFGA grounds.

We will dye fabric samples using locally available plant materials and participants will each dye a silk scarf to take home. The instructor will also discuss the basics of growing plants for dye in your garden.

This class has filled. To be added to the waitlist please email [email protected].