Course curriculum

  • 1

    Welcome to the course!

    • Welcome !

    • About me

    • How the course works

    • important dates

    • Don't forget to join the facebook group!!
  • 2

    Materials

    • What you will need

    • What you will need in more detail

    • Fabric

    • testing an unknown fabric to see what it is

    • barrier

    • The dyes we will use in this workshop

    • Dyes, mordants and other chemicals - materials list

    • learning resources

    • Using the facebook group to ask questions
  • 3

    Some essential knowledge before you start

    • What is it in the leaves, that makes them print - or not ?

    • Leaves have two sides!

    • Carrier cloths or blankets

    • Working clean

    • Using the facebook group to ask questions
  • 4

    Mordants and assists

    • Mordants

    • Other chemicals, or 'assists'

    • Tannins as part of the mordanting process

    • Mordanting method and recipes
  • 5

    dyes

    • When to dye

    • Dyeing for ecoprinters is different than pure natural dyeing

    • Making your dyebaths
  • 6

    Steaming cooling and washing

    • steaming your bundle

    • steaming your bundle

    • washing
  • 7

    Our first colour adventures- sampling

    • Sampling- why and how

    • Bundling more than one sample at a time

    • Documenting your process
  • 8

    Understanding your results

    • what can we learn from bundle1?

    • what we can learn from bundle 2 ?

    • Some more learning from bundle 2

    • more learning from bundle 2

    • learning from bundle 3

    • more about the interaction between target and blankets

    • learning from bundle 3

    • But my blankets are more beautiful than my samples !

    • Relax! Every bundle you make is a learning opportunity

    • Incredibly potent dischargers

    • more about bundle 2
  • 9

    Discharging leaves

    • Discharging leaves

    • Some examples of results of using discharging leaves

    • See if you can work out what's going on here

    • Making a leaf chart

    • See if you can work out what's going on here - the answers
  • 10

    More analysis of how leaves and dyes interact

    • An example of a silk scarf - what are the leaves doing?

    • a puzzle for you
  • 11

    Printing a scarf

    • printing a scarf.

    • getting your fabric smooth

    • bundling a scarf with an iron blanket (If you did my foundation course you have seen this before)
  • 12

    More techniques - Optional!

    • Further explorations

    • Other methods of dyeing

    • making a dyebath from home grown or foraged materials

    • post mordanting

    • for those of you addicted to sampling...

    • influence of cooking time on discharge
  • 13

    Working bigger

    • Folding your fabric for mirror images

    • Revealing the mirror image piece

    • Mirror images with natural dyes

    • bundling on flexible pipes

    • more about mirror images - incorporating barriers and blankets part 1

    • more about mirror images - incorporating barriers and blankets part 2
  • 14

    Printing a garment

    • printing garments

    • choosing a garment to print

    • printing a garment without blankets part1

    • printing a garment without a blanket part 2

    • printing a garment with blankets
  • 15

    Patterned backgrounds

    • Patterned backgrounds

    • Patterned backgrounds using simple shibori

    • honeycomb shibori

    • the potential for combining shibori with ecoprint

    • Multiple dye blankets

    • The effect of weave

    • ideas for patterned backgrounds created by blankets

    • samples using patterned blankets

    • the iron dip as rescue strategy
  • 16

    Rescuing 'failed' pieces

    • The random versus the considered

    • Using a 'fail as background for overprinting

    • An example of an overprinted rescue scarf

    • The missing macleaya!

    • a real example from your work
  • 17

    Next steps

    • What next ?

    • Come for a walk round my garden with me

    • your workbook/manual as a pdf

    • workbook/manual 2

    • CONGRATULATIONS !!!!!!
  • 18

    mordanting and sampling instructions

    • mordanting and sampling instructions

Instructor(s)

instructor

Caroline Nixon

Caroline has been ecoprinting for seven years, and teaching ecoprint for five. As a printer she is known for her clear crisp prints and vivid colours. As a teacher she is known for her well planned courses, detailed clear explanations, and learner centred style. She is focussed on giving each learner the skills and techniques they need to proceed on their ecoprinting journey with confidence. On Caroline's courses you will learn. A lot. But you will also have fun.

Social proof: testimonials

Debbie

You are a super teacher, a lovely balance of kindness, compassion, knowledge and assertiveness when needed. I appreciated how organised and thoughtful you were and flexible and sensitive to our needs.You gave me so much help and confidence and I delighted with the things I made.

maggie

Caroline's workshop was very well organised and well structured for a range of ecoprinting experience levels. she is a very clear, but patient, tutor, always mindful of where a student is on their specific learning journey. she builds up the knowledge to be learnt in a straightforward and sequential way and is always positively responsive to questions. Best of all, she is great fun! I would (and do) thoroughly recommend her to new and experienced eco printers alike.

I loved your approach to printing, it made me feel that I was experimenting ,not just copying, from the beginning, even when I was following the steps for the samples. You squeezed in so much information and delivered it in a way that made good sense. I really feel that I have a much better understanding of the processes and look forward to experimenting more! Nicola

Claydon summer 2018, anonymous

Delivery of the course content was of a very high standard. Content knowledge was clearly delivered. Imparting knowledge effectively is not a given. Caroline succeeded immeasurably. Bravo! Claydon summer 2018

Claydon summer 2018, anonymous

Excellent quality teaching. The tutor was immersed in her craft and that rubbed off on me...I loved it!! Claydon summer 2018