Catherine Quinn of Mottainai Textiles taught a dye workshop in Buncrana. I had no idea she was from Belfast! It was still a lovely day to visit Buncrana and the next day I was able to pop into the Hinamatsuri festival in Derry. Both events were organised by Junko and the group from Yarn Spinners of Inishowen.
Samples of work by Mottainai
Steps!
Step 1: Fold your fabric. How you fold changes the pattern you make. I chose the equilateral. This should have come out looking like hexagons. Hmm…
Step 2: Soak the fabric. Then sew and completely bind the fabric.
Step 3: Catherine mixes up the dye bath
Step 4: Dip it in and out. I didn’t get any pics of the colour change since my hands were in very blue gloves.
It goes from Yellow, to Green to Blue as the dye oxidizes. It’s like magic.
Finished student work
I wish I could remember everyone’s name! We were amazed how everything came out so unique, even though we followed the same processes.
These two were mine. I have to admit, I loved the other student work 100x more than mine. But this just makes me want to try it again!
I couldn’t stay long since I had to get a train. But it was long enough that I got to see Catherine talk and give a talk about indigo dyeing.
