Course Description

As creative textile artists & embroiderers the world of mixed-media can be harnessed to create exciting starting points for stitch or further embellishment.

You may be just starting on this path and be unsure of the possibilities or you may have a fair knowledge of the techniques but, either way, there will always be discoveries to be made. In these two days see how different mediums - those intended for fabric and many that aren’t - can be used to great effect.

With the emphasis on 'play’ and ‘mixing-it-about’ we will be exploring how to create highly decorative surfaces or subtle backgrounds by looking at topics like dyes & pigments; transparency & opacity; resists and masks; metallics & foiling; paper & fabric surfaces – and more as questions arise.

You can work on your own themes or purely instinctively – whichever suits! We are not aiming for a finished end result, but as you enjoy the journey & embrace the ‘happy accidents’ you will come away with lots of examples that could be taken forward to further work as well as inspiration for your own unique fabrics and papers.

Suitable For

This course is suitable for beginners or improvers alike.

Material Requirements

• Plastic to cover the table (eg bin-liners)
• Notebook/sketchbook for notes & ideas
• Hairdryer
• Minimum 3 pieces of medium weight, white or light coloured natural fabric (such as calico). You could bring different weaves & weights eg sheer organdie, satin, tightly woven poplin around 30x40cms-50x50cms. Must be washed to remove dressing.
• Selection of papers at least 140gsm. NOT photocopy paper. A3 is a good size, but not smaller than A4.
• If you can, Drawing Board or similar (MDF or thick foam-core) big enough to tape the fabric to
• A soft surface – something with some ‘give’ – e.g. old towel or blanket.
• Masking tape: at least one roll – 1” width is good – plus wider or narrower (if you have). The standard stuff is ok and the natural/creamy colour is preferable
• Mopping up – instead of baby wipes or JCloths think about pieces of muslin or similar. Plus kitchen towel
• Rollers: sponge/foam type as well as hard lino rollers – more than one if you can, maybe different widths & diameters
• Selection of Brushes that are not precious, in different sizes, shapes and stiffness
• Paper scissors
• Stencils; print blocks; textured, patterned surfaces (like textured wallpaper); mark-making & scratching tools etc and anything else that you like working with

Please make sure you can identify your own equipment or someone else (including me) may scoop up your favourite tool at the end of the workshop by mistake.

Apart from the fabric & paper, bring whatever you can without having to buy equipment especially. I will have lots of things you can borrow - rollers, brushes, stencils, mark-making tools, etc - but not enough to supply everyone with everything!

Materials Cost

There will be a charge of £10 to cover the cost of fabric paints, acrylics, inks, dyes, gels & mediums, crayons, foils etc. This is payable directly to the tutor. ß