Evento

Girdwood Fungus Fair Mushroom Dye Workshop

Regional Dye Palette
Every region has its own palette of mushroom and lichen dyes. This 4 hour class takes an in-depth look at using local wild mushrooms as sustainable, safe dye sources. Starting with 10-12 different species, with the addition of safe mordants and pH modifiers, we end up with about 20 colors in all.

Wild Harvest
All of the dyes used are ethically harvested, dried, and weighed (with some fresh material if available). Students learn about mushroom safety, identification basics, habitats and ethical harvest. Participants receive a customized color guide to the best regional dye mushrooms and lichens and learn where to go for help with identification.

Working with Fiber
We will work primarily with wool and silk fiber. We will go over the steps to preparing fibers for the dye bath, which includes scouring, mordanting and how to avoid felting wool. Yarn for class will be pre-mordanted to allow ample time to focus on the dyes; however we will add mordant directly to silk dye pot to demonstrate that technique as well.

Shibori demonstration
Each participant receives a blank scarf to practice an arashi shibori inspired dye resist technique. All supplies will be provided.

Takeaways
Students will take home a detailed recipe card, listing both the scientific and common names of the fungi used in class, mordants, pH modifications and ratios used; this card will showcase the rainbow of samples we dye. Participants will take home a procedural handout to guide future exploration, a customized guide to local dye fungi and a beautiful hand dyed scarf. This workshop covers all aspects of getting started with mushroom and lichen dyes and leaves the student with the tools to carry on their own exploration.