Classes are listed in date order with the earliest classes first.

Pounding the Colors of Wildwood into Cloth

Design a unique 18” x 18” cotton pillow cover using flowers and leaves from Wildwood Park. Natural Dyer Carol Reed will lead participants on a short walk to forage plant material at the Park before returning to the Olewine Pavilion where participants can choose from additional flowers and herbs from her garden. Create a design with your gathered materials and use a hammer to pound color, petals and leaf shape and veins into the cloth. Create a one-of-a-kind memory of a place and a time. A pillow insert will also be given to each participant. Program will occur outdoors; participants should meet at the Olewine Pavilion located near the Nature Center

Thursday, July 24, 6:00 - 8:00 pm., Wildwood Park, Harrisburg, PA. For more information and to sign up click here.

A Morning of Indigo

Spend a morning immersed in Indigo, learn the art and science of indigo dyeing. Each participant will create an organic indigo fructose vat using honey that they can take and use at home. While that’s reacting, we’ll dye a silk bandana with fresh leaves from locally grown indigo. Simple Shibori patterns will be used on the fabric being dyed. The materials fee includes the ingredients for the indigo vat and fresh indigo leaf dyeing, a container, 2 cotton bandanas, 1 silk scarf. Please wear old clothes.

Saturday, August 23, 10:30 - 1 pm, Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, Lancaster, PA. Please click here for more information and to sign up.

Up-cycle with Indigo

Bring your clothing or napkins that needs a boost to this workshop and turn everything blue! The perfect chance to up-cycle or create something new. The instructor will lead you through creating a synthetic indigo vat and provide tools to create resist patterns on your clothes.  Each participant can dye the equivalent of 5 large t-shirts, bearing in mind the textiles must fit in the vat, which will be in a 5-gallon bucket.  Natural fibers like cotton, linen, wool and silk work best with indigo. Once everyone’s had a turn you can keep dying until the vat ends. Please bring plastic bags along with your clothed so you can take home your wet items. All items to be dyed must be brought by the students.

Saturday, August 23, 2:30 to 4:30, Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, Lancaster, PA. Please click here for more information and to sign up.

Eucalyptus Magic

Join Natural Dyer Carol Reed for her signature Eucalyptus Magic Workshop. Participants will get to naturally dye a one-of-a-kind 14” x 72” silk scarf using fresh eucalyptus leaves to create a unique pattern. Through the magic of eco dyeing, the leaves impart their color to the cloth. In the first hour participants will put their scarf together, place it in the dye bath and learn about the process. We’ll also make string bracelets from naturally dyed cotton with a naturally dyed beads as we wait for the water to boil. While the scarves are dyeing, you’ll have free time from 11:30am to 1:00pm to explore Wildwood or get lunch nearby. All participants should return at 1:00pm to remove the scarves from the bath and have the “big reveal”.

Saturday, September 28, 10:30 a.m., Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, Lancaster, PA. Please click here for more information and to sign up.

Saturday, October 4, 10:30, Wildwood Park, Harrisburg, PA. Link coming soon.

Previous Classes Taught:

  • Indigo Dyeing

  • Bundle dyeing or eco-dyeing

  • Natural dyeing

  • Dyeing with Fiber Reactive Dyes

  • Textile Printing with Craft Foam

  • Oil Painting Experience

  • Art with Unconventional Materials

  • Simple Batik

  • Shibori

  • Marbling on fabric

  • Finger Painting for Adults

  • Basic Drawing

  • Color Theory