You’re invited to The Wild Dyery!

Two weeks today I’ll be opening my studio during this year’s Wirral Open Studio Tour. This is a rare occurrence as the last time I let people witness my creative cave was during the ‘Grand Opening’ of my first studio at Carr Farm, way back in 2016!

Firstly, on Friday 9th June from 7pm - 8pm, I’ll be sharing a talk about my natural fibre and dye work, specifically focussing on my challenge to grow a pair of indigo linen jeans by hand in time for the completion of my Homegrown Homespun collaboration this October! If you’re able to get to Hoylake, you can attend in person or for those further afield, the talk will be live-streamed. Please select whether you’d like to attend in-person at the studio or online via zoom below.

What is Homegrown Homespun?

In 2020, I co-founded a project exploring regenerative fashion with my friend Patrick Grant who’s a clothing manufacturer and judge on the BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee.

In collaboration with arts commissioning enterprise The SuperSlow Way, we’ve been growing fibre and dye with the aim of making indigo linen jeans in time for this October’s British Textile Biennial.

The Homegrown Homespun project was inspired by the rigorous agroecological principles of Fibershed - an international organisation advocating for the regeneration of the fashion and textile industries.

After years of fast, throw-away fashion derived from fossil fuels and offshoring resulting in the loss of skills and manufacturing infrastructure in the U.K., Homegrown Homespun is an experiment to see whether clothing made here could be Climate Beneficial™.

So will there be any Homegrown Homespun jeans by this October, will they fulfil Fibershed principles and will I be wearing a pair I’ve grown, hand spun, naturally dyed, woven and sewn myself? Attend this online presentation to find out!

Then during Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th June from 10am - 5pm, you’ll be welcome to pop in to witness me transforming plants into indigo linen cloth. I’ll be demonstrating how to break, scutch, hackle, spin, dye and weave flax. You’ll get an insight into the way our ancestors clothed themselves before industrialisation (and ecocide) and I’ll tell you all about the exciting potential for our clothing to help remedy climate breakdown.

There will be indigo dye kits on sale and at around 2pm on Saturday, I’ll show you how to make a vat and create beautiful shibori patterns on fabric. No booking necessary for visits on Saturday or Sunday but if you’d like to attend the Friday night talk, please select your booking option above. See you in June!