Last night was dyeing night here at Sheldon

 i wanted to tell you all about our new workshop we launched last night here at Sheldon. we had an amazing time getting all these patterns going.

It used to be called tie dye when I was 16 and ripping my way through all my clothes. Now it has become a sophisticated affair called Shibori originating from Japan. The art of folding combined with amazing colour combinations - what a blast. 

These were the basic materials we used - paint for dyeing, brush for applying and fabric. Well yes, there are a few more bits and bobs, like bowls for mixing the colours in, strings for binding the fabric, rubber gloves to keep your hands clean and a place you can hang the finished pieces to dry. Of course a handy hairdryer can sot out the really drippy bits in the first place.

Having chatted about the importance of carefully folding and binding to get more defined effects and that basically each fold makes a coloured line we went on to explore the patterns we could create.

When this becomes this

or that

We looked at a more relaxed pattern by scrunching and binding and came up with these.

And to finish, we explored some ways of laying down stripes and adding stenciled patterns. 

It's always best to let the fabric dry naturally so that you don't smudge or transfer the colours onto each other. 

Getting messy with the lovely rollers. Everyone was very happy to discover just how easy all this is really. Just a free spirit to give it a go and exciting results happen.

You know, I think what is most amazing part about this, is that, yes you can buy proper dyes to do the job but you have to decide on the colours you want before you go shopping which pretty much means deciding what your design is going to be as well. Rush out whilst you still have the plan in your head and maybe there will be time to get on with the project by the time you get home again.

Whereas, we can have an inspiration at 10.00 at night, jump up, grab the colours from the paint stash, fill a pitcher of water and the fabric to be dyed and hey presto - good to go!

All you need is right at hand if you are an Annie Sloan painter.How I love my job.

If you fancy joining one of our workshops then just send me an email and I will get right back

jane@sheldonpaint.co.uk