Eco Prints: Basics & Beyond with Judilee Fitzhugh

Explore eco printing with plant material directly on your fabric or paper.

About this Class

Achieve incredibly vibrant and realistic leaf prints using contact printing, a natural dye method of transferring the pigments found in plant material directly to cloth or paper (also known as eco-printing or botanical printing). You will explore the basics of contact printing, including some rudimentary plant physiology and how to manipulate prints with mordants and dye blankets. You also will experiment with some simple shibori techniques and easy methods of embellishing the finished prints. 

Details:

• Skill Level: Beginner

• Students should wear clothes that can get dirty

• A $30 materials fee, included in the cost of the class, covers sample fabrics, including scarf blanks and papers; large pots; wrapping materials; clamps and resists; and mordants and natural dyes. Students will need to bring additional supplies (see below).

• Bring a bag lunch and beverage daily. BARN has a refrigerator and microwave on the lower level. 
  

Project

Students will leave with several printed scarves (silk and wool), a variety of printed fabric samples, printed papers suitable for book arts or other paper arts, handouts for technique review, and a newfound appreciation for the color and beauty within the common leaf.

Materials