Gifts from the Land is a series of workshops led by Scotland-based artists and craftspeople sharing with you their carefully developed knowledge on working with natural materials – inviting you to grow your creative practice and connect more deeply with the land around you.
Join the Fibreshed Scotland team in an exploration of botanicals to create lasting colour on natural fabrics and yarn in a soil to soil process. Gather plant flowers and leaves in the dedicated dye garden and then learn to transfer the colour using simple processes led by the team. Together, create a variety of shades and tones while considering the impact and choices available to move to a more mindful, regenerative local textile economy.
About Fibreshed
This workshop will be facilitated by three members of Fibreshed Scotland’s core team: Veronica Collins, Kate Dyer and Jan Hughes.
Jan Hughes is a textile designer, educator, maker, dye garden grower, and co-founder of Fibreshed Scotland. Working from her garden studio in Cupar, Jan designs and produces small batches of naturally coloured hand-woven cloth on traditional wooden handlooms, using traditional skills and fully traceable natural fibres. She is passionate about sharing her process with community groups to raise awareness for a more mindful personal usage of cloth in our everyday lives aiming to foster a deeper connection between location, colour, the arts and the community. Jan works under the name of Balgarvie Weaving (balgarvieweaving.co.uk/)
Veronica Colins lives in rural Fife and has a small flock of sheep. Making best use of their fleece is her main activity and dyeing wool is her speciality. Many hours are spent sorting and grading the fleece and dyeing the resulting yarn with natural dyes (www.culrossyarn.co.uk). Veronica says “We grow many dye plants and forage for others, and we love the fact that all the materials in each ball of yarn come from this place where we live. That's the reason Fibreshed Scotland appeals so much to me. The idea of our society using locally produced, natural fibres and dyes in our daily lives really inspires me.”
Kate Dyer now lives in Edinburgh, but has spent much of life in Africa working with women’s groups, textile unions, NGOs and governments. She’s enthusiastic about the heritage and future of textiles – especially developing her own skills in sewing, embroidery, spinning and knitting. Through Fibreshed Scotland she is helping to build a diverse community interested in a zero-waste soil to soil cycle for our clothing, and looking to a future based on regenerative textiles as opposed to the wrecking ball of fast fashion.
