Location: Llangathen Temperance Hall, SA32 8QD. Near Aberglasney Gardens
Dates: 27th or 28th June 2025
Time: 10am - 4pm
Cost for one day: £80 per person
Spaces available per day: 10
Details :
In conjunction with Studio Cennen’s exhibition ‘Out of The Blues’ join Welsh textile artist Siân Lester and Cambrian Wool owner Suzi Park for an enjoyable and fulfilling day of dyeing with the magical woad plant (isatis tinctoria), an ancient native European blue colour source.
Siân will share her knowledge and skills in a one-day introduction to this heritage craft of botanical dyeing, referencing historical and cultural associations with the colour blue from woad. Suzi will be bringing her beautiful Welsh wool and give an insight into the historical and contemporary context of its production and share her wealth of textile experience.
We will be working together as a small group, giving space and time to gain in-depth experience and insight into this slow and magical process. The workshop will be at the beautiful Llangathen Temperance Hall, near Aberglasney Gardens, SA32 8QD.
What you will learn:
- Practical, hands-on skills and knowledge to prepare Cambrian wool cloth/yarn and successfully make up dye baths to dye cloth and yarn varying shades of blue.
- Some simple but effective shibori techniques (a Japanese fold, clamp, tie, and resist method) to make patterns on cloth.
- To explore the process of over-dyeing yellow with blue to achieve greens and modifying to extend the colour palette.
- Insights into historical and cultural contexts of woad dyeing and wool production.
- Insights into contemporary, ethical, and sustainable application to craft and art practices.
- Practical and accessible knowledge in the form of recipes for dyeing methods to enable you to continue experimenting afterwards.
Siân will assist you with making a record of all the dyeing, so that you leave with a small logbook for future reference plus some cloth and yarn to take away to use for your making. No experience necessary, also open to those who already have some textile or dyeing experience and would like to explore further. There will be plenty of books, list of suppliers and samples to reference and peruse at the event and some extra Cambrian wool yarn for sale.
Who will you learn from:
Siân Lester is an artist with a long-established career in textiles, specialising in sustainable approaches associated with her season-based dyeing, art, and research. She integrates and shares these processes within her visual and socially engaged arts practice. Siân has focused on experimenting extensively over the years with plant dyes and local wool sources; attended and presenting at many international art/craft/natural dye conferences. learning from master dyers, consistently evolving her thinking and making. Her practice and teaching moves away from commercial, chemical-based textile processes to a slower, kinder, and more ethical approach, rooted within the rhythms and cycles of the environment. Siân’s methods encourage multi-sensory bonds with plants and colour, supporting biophilic and conscious connections to place, land, and local ecologies.
Suzi Park has a wealth of textile experience and knowledge and has been proudly running Cambrian Wool since 2014, producing 100% Welsh wool shorn and spun from sheep free to roam the Cambrian Mountains of Wales. She will be assisting Siân on the day (in a technician capacity only) and will give an insight into the development of the Cambrian wool business, via a ten-minute introduction before the session begins. The introduction will cover the Welsh wool ‘journey’ from sheep to yarn and finally to fabric.
Materials and recipes: All supplied including British grown Woad extract and Cambrian wool ecru twill cloth and yarn.
You will need to bring: Apron or old clothes, rubber gloves and notebook if you’d like to make notes.
Lunch and refreshments: Please bring along your own packed lunch. Teas/coffees and biscuits/cake will be supplied.
Parking: Available on site - please lift share if you can.
Tickets once bought are non-refundable. Children over 10yrs welcome accompanied by an adult.