Gathered Colour

A natural dyeing online course for flower farmers and florists by Kate Cullen. Kate has run her own successful hand dyed silk ribbon company for more than 5 years and is now offering you the chance to accelerate your plant dye learning on the basis of her hard work and experience. With her help you can get the foundations you need to get up and running with ease and the right knowledge. Kate will help you cut through the ubiquitous inaccurate natural dyeing advice that’s out there to tried and tested true plant dye recipes, with the added benefit of how to turn this into a profitable arm of your business.

You do not need to have any previous experience of natural dyeing to do this course.

Diversifying your income using your existing plants, as well as waste from your current work is a great way to enhance your current business model, as well as being a sustainable and ecologically friendly craft.

Images by Georgina Harrison

Lessons

1. Fabrics & Kit

Options, sourcing, cost. Traditional silks, peace silks and vegan silks, plus a detailed kit list to get you started.

2. Preparation

Scouring and Mordanting. Cellulose versus protein based textiles. How to ensure your plant dyeing gets the best results.

3. Natural dyes
Plants that dye – substantive and fugitive dyes and why it matters. Growing and foraging your own plant dyes as well as where to buy in.

4. Recording and replicating results

How to dye, test, record and replicate your natural dyeing.

5. Pricing and packaging for sales

How to price your ribbons effectively, balancing client’s expectations, material costs, and making a profit. How to store and package your ribbons to minimise workload.

6. Bonus week – Bundle dyeing and eco printing

Fun and interesting ways to create differently patterned ribbons made from waste materials from floristry or foraged leaves and flowers.

Learning materials also include:

Natural dye list (foraged and grown)

Materials Suppliers List

Supportive Facebook Group

How the Course Works

The lessons (a mix of printable workbooks and videos) will be supported by a fortnightly live Zoom meeting (held at 10am on Thursday mornings) where Kate will be on hand to answer questions and delve into the lessons more fully. By leaving 2 weeks between sessions this will allow you to source what you need and allow time for the natural dyeing process itself. You will have access to all the written course content from the date of the first live session however, so you can proceed at your own pace if you wish. The Facebook Group will be an ongoing resource for the course students, a place to communicate with each other as well as seek further help, advice and support.

Investment

The full course price is £695. Enrolment closes on the first day of the course beginning on 11th March. The course runs for 12 weeks (with fortnightly live sessions), ending on Thursday 20th May 2021.

Please note that any course equipment, dye stuffs and silks are not included in the course. You should expect to invest between £50-£100 on materials, however I will give you my suppliers list and advise on where to find things inexpensively when starting out. The materials costs can also be spread over the duration of the course – you will not need to buy everything up front.