Batik & Felting – Four Evenings Workshop

We’re really looking forward to the Batik & felting Workshop with Carole Quinlan. Carole is an experienced tutor & textile artist. During this four evening workshop you will have an opportunity to learn both Batik & Felting.

About the Workshop. This workshop will be in Killeigh, Co Offaly. It is a workshop suitable for beginners so no previous experience is required. Carole will supply each participant with the materials required on all evenings.

Batik – Batik is a method of dyeing fabric. A removable wax is used to cover specific parts of the fabric before dying, making it so that the dye does not reach those parts. This wax is applied in a design or pattern, and then the fabric is dipped in dye or painted. Once the dye has dried, the wax is pulled up or boiled off. This exposes the previous colour and design. Some dye does seep underneath the wax. This leaves a cracked, marbling effect, which is one of the aspects batiks are known for. To create multi-coloured designs, the fabric is layered with wax and dyed numerous times. Batiks are mostly made of cotton fabrics, but both natural and synthetic fibres can be used in this technique. Have fun discovering how to draw with hot wax on cotton using a canting, or both, with1- 3 dye colour.

Felting – Learn all about wool and how it is transformed from soft fluffy fibers into a substantial piece of material. Courses cover the basics of felt making, starting with small flat sample pieces of patterned felt, using combed wool tops (machine processed wool).
Make colourful felt beads and string them together to make an unusual necklace. Make long felt cords that can be wrapped round and round the wrist for a multi wool bangle look. Also brooches and earrings can be made from thick felt cord and cut into slices and stitched or glued onto various jewellery findings.

Dates: Monday Evenings 13th Jan to 4th Feb 2014

Materials required. All basic materials will be supplied.

To Book: Click Here

Cost: €20.00

 

 

Following on from the huge success of our Basket Weaving in Cloneygowan the workshop in Edenderry is now fully booked. Padraig Larkin is a fantastic tutor and we are delighted to have him teaching on this programme.

If you are interested in Basket weaving please email aileen@traditionalskills.ie and if possible (depending on budget), we may be in a position to run another workshop at a later date

One of the first traditional skills workshops of 2014 is Tapestry Weaving with textile artist Frances Crowe. Frances is an award winning textile artist with years of experience teaching beginners and experienced weavers.

About the Workshop. This workshop will be in Ferbane, Co Offaly. It is a beginners day workshop so no previous experience is required. Frances will supply each participant with a frame to use during the workshop.  Each participant will learn how to put on a warp, weave plain tapestry, diagonal, pattern, texture. Each participant will weave a small sample piece on day one and a more detailed piece on day two.

Dates: 11th & 18th Jan 2014

Materials required. All basic materials for the two day workshop will be supplied.

To Book: Click Here

Cost: €20.00

What is Tapestry Weaving? Tapestry is a form of textile art, which according to textile historians has been practiced for more than two thousand years! Traditionally woven on a vertical loom (wooden frame) and simple tools, yet tapestry weaving can create intricate designs, sometimes using hundreds of different colors to make realistic pictures.

However, it can also be woven on a floor loom as well. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length (called the warp) and those parallel to the width (called the weft); the warp threads are set up under tension on a loom, and the weft thread is passed back and forth across part or all of the warps. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike cloth weaving where both the warp and the weft threads may be visible.

In tapestry weaving, weft yarns are typically discontinuous; the artisan interlaces each coloured weft back and forth in its own small pattern area. It is a plain weft-faced weave having weft threads of different colours worked over portions of the warp to form the design.

Most weavers use a naturally based warp thread such as linen or cotton. The weft threads are usually wool or cotton, but may include silk, gold, silver, or other alternatives.

 

About the Tutor – Frances Crowe

I am based in the West of Ireland in my idyllic studio in Roscommon. I work in a variety of materials, paint, collage, mixed media, but my primary thought process is in fibres. I like to collect materials such as wool, rope, cotton, and twist and weave them together to form individual, original works of art.

Tapestry weaving crafted in the ancient way can give warmth and vibrancy to any space.

The art of handwoven tapestry is many thousands of years old and, in that time, the technique has remained virtually unchanged. What has changed and evolved over the centuries is the way in which the medium is used, the purity of its design and execution and the esteem it commands in society as a whole.

Working in the medium of tapestry demands many days and months of solitary labour in the production of one piece, but it is this very thing that I love.”

Frances Crowe works from her studio in Grange, Co. Roscommon. A graduate of NCAD, Frances has taken part in numerous exhibitions both solo and in groups in her career.

Frances has been commisioned to create her unique artwork nationwide, including commissions for Government Offices; Roscommon, Glanbia; Kilkenny, The Heritage Trust, Guinness Hops Store; Dublin and Gateway Lodge, Connemara.