Workshops
Upcoming Workshops
Image Transfer Mix on Fabric
August 4-6, 2017| Friday-Sunday, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm | Mendocino Art Center
Past Workshops
Sew and Slash – Not Your Grandmother’s Chenille
August 21-22, 2016 | Sunday-Monday, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm | Mendocino Art Center
In this two-day workshop, we will explore a method for making chenille fabric, and you will be able to produce one or two finished pieces about the size of small rugs (I use mine for bathroom rugs). Once you have learned the basic technique, chenille can be used in art quilts, pillows, or for clothing, like vests or jackets. Although it is surprisingly fast, it also has endlessly fascinating variations, as you combine different colors and weaves in six layers of fabric. I will have lots of examples to help with choosing fabrics. The full, three-dimensional effect of the chenille is seen after machine washing and drying, so we will wash and dry the first pieces Sunday evening, and be able to learn from them as the second pieces are assembled and sewn on Monday.
I started exploring this technique because I had so much fabric left over from my various surface design interests, so I will have lots of fabrics for participants to use – in many weights and fibers – but you are welcome to bring some from your own stashes. In addition to hand-dyed or commercial cottons, it is useful to have some heavier ones, like sweat shirt material or old blankets. Participants will need to bring a sewing machine, please see the materials list on the Art Center’s website for more information.
Image Transfer on Fabric
October 22-23, 2016 | Sunday, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm | Mendocino Art Center
This two-day technique workshop covers several methods for putting images – photos, scans, drawn images – onto fabric. Participants will receive a complete handbook of the techniques and by the end of the workshop, they will have the information they need to choose which methods work best for their purposes – and be able to successfully continue to work with them at home. It would be useful to have some knowledge of Photoshop Elements software, but for beginners, there will be a computer assistant to help prepare images. Those with more experience are welcome to bring their laptops with Elements, and also to bring their own printers if they wish, but I will provide computers and printers for workshop use.
Using Photoshop Elements, we will produce negatives on inkjet printers, and use them to work with light-sensitive dyes. We will use the inkjet printers for two purposes – printing directly on fabric to produce clear, bright images (that could be used for piecing memory quilts or art quilts), and making inkjet transfers, which are softer, less brilliant images that can be put onto clothing or used to build bigger images on large pieces of fabric that could not be put through a printer. Participants can bring their own images to work with, or can learn the techniques by using ones that I will have available. All materials and equipment will be provided through the materials fee, and enrollment will be limited to eight people.