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Natural Dye Workshop

The Garden Museum welcomes plant dyer Isobel Spence back for another Natural Dye Workshop.

In this hands-on workshop Isobel will teach you how to naturally dye using plant material. You will then have the opportunity to experiment with natural dyeing with various seasonal dye baths yourself and upcycled textile pieces.

Natural dyeing is a slow, sustainable craft that uses natural materials to yield extraordinary dyes to colour textiles. This is an ancient craft practiced for millennia.

Working with plants in this way forges a beautiful connection and appreciation for your surroundings and the seasons. Whether using bark, flowers, nuts or berries, there are few limitations to the material on offer for plant dyeing.

For more information: isobelspence.co.uk

  • Isobel Spence

    Isobel Spence

    Isobel is a gardener and plant dyer using grown and foraged plants to create hand-dyed textiles.

    Growing up in the countryside, Isobel has always had a connection to the outdoors. On completing an Arts degree in Edinburgh, Isobel returned South to pursue a career in horticulture. Working for two years as a gardener at Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Isobel deepened her understanding of plants. She now works as a gardener, forager, and plant dyer; living and working with the seasons.

    Fascinated by the history of art, craft, and textiles, Isobel revives traditional methods in her practice, celebrating native plants and natural fibres. The process is therefore slow, sustainable, and gentle to the Earth. Through her practice, Isobel hopes to inspire and reconnect people to the land and the slow and simple stories of the seasons.

    @isobel_spence