Dyeing Classes

Discover new ways to color and design fabrics, making them truly your own. Explore natural dyeing techniques using the leaves, flowers, or roots of plants from the Folk School’s dye garden.

Explore The Studio

Wet Room in Davidson Hall

The perfect studio for those who like to get messy. It’s particularly good for classes whose students like to dye things, as it has big drains in the concrete floor we can just hose down (hence the name). There are banks of counters with ranges for dye pots. Spinning classes are often held here too since it provides such a nice, spacious area.

Cory Brown Memorial Dye Garden

The Cory Brown Memorial Dye Garden is made possible thanks to a generous endowment from Donna and Cliff Brown in memory of their beloved son. Established in 2020, the garden features a wide array of dye plants including indigo, coreopsis, yarrow, French marigolds, madder, chamomile, and purple gromwell, among others.

News & Stories: What's Happening in Dyeing

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Welcome to Our New Website

Our new website is here!...

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A Life in Craft: Interview with Jessica Kaufman, Fiber and Surface Design Artist

Jessica Kaufman is the founder and owner of WAXON Studio in West Asheville, NC. She recently joined Tammy Elwell to talk about her relationship with the Folk School, her dyeing process, and realizing her dream of creating batik and tie-dye kitchen textiles. Enjoy our interview!

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Recreating a 1933 Doris Ulmann Photograph with Lesley Darling

Last fall, I and eight other craftspeople joined John C Campbell for the second session of the Traditional Craft Mentorship program. During this four-week program, we lived, ate, and crafted on campus (socially distanced of course). While we wait patiently for the Folk School to open in person later this year, I thought I’d share a story about just one adventure that befell us in October.

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A Look at the First Plants of the Cory Brown Memorial Dye Garden

Welcome to the new Folk School Dye Garden. Natural dye comes from the leaves, flowers, or roots of plants. In this video, we will take a look at Nankeen cotton, indigo, coreopsis, yarrow, French marigolds, madder, chamomile, and purple gromwell.

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Studio Batik with Jessica Kaufman

Have you ever wanted to try batik and hand-dyeing? We have a very special surface design class coming up on January 12–18, 2020 with Jessica Kaufman: Studio Batik: Many Techniques, Amazing Results. Jessica has studied batik methods from Indonesia and India and is the owner of WAXON Batik & Dye Studio in Asheville, NC.

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From Sheep to Shawl and Back Again: My Interview with Martha Owen

I stopped by the Yarn Circle on a Monday afternoon to speak with Martha Owen, our beloved longtime Resident Artist in Spinning, Knitting, Dyeing and Felt Making. We talked about many things including fiber arts, raising sheep, travel, artistic process, Fair Isle, her rich history with the Folk School, and more. Enjoy our interview!

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Indigo Fun at the Folk School

Cindy Alley wrote a great blog about her experience as a student in last week’s “Yoruba Batik, Adire, and Tie Dye” with Gasali Adeyemo (Oct. 20-25, 2013):

Martha Owen headshot

Spinning, Knitting & Crochet, Feltmaking, Dyeing & Surface Design Resident Artist

Martha Owen

Martha began her adventure in spinning at this very school in 1978. Since then, her extended family has included sheep (mostly Corriedale/ Merino, Romney, Shetland and a little Blue-faced Leicester for fun) and French Angora rabbits. A banjo player known to tell a story or two, Martha’s interest in sheep and wool, music and dance, have carried her quite literally and joyfully around the world. Her children say she is a wool nerd, but her sheep say she is outstanding in her field! Martha became a member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild in 1988, and was co-owner of the Yarn Circle in Murphy, NC, a store catering to fiber enthusiasts. She has been teaching spinning, natural dyeing and knitting design since 1984.

Images from the Studio

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