The Harmonious Palette: Beautiful Gradations with Natural Dyes
If you love color, join us for 5 days of intensive color exploration and discovery using natural dyes and materials from the Sanborn Mills dye garden.
Not scheduled right now. Last taught 2026.
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The workshop
If you love color, join us for 5 days of intensive color exploration and discovery using natural dyes and materials from the Sanborn Mills dye garden. We will dye cellulose fabrics in large enough sample sizes for your stash and inspiration. Our workshop teaches you how to work with tannins and natural dyes to create unique and harmonious color gradations that are perfect for quilters, stitchers and sewists. We will dye cellulose fabrics in large enough sample sizes for your stash and inspiration. Tannins have become one of the secret weapons in our dye studio as they improve light and wash fastness as well as impart an unusual base shade to the dyes. The colors that develop are intriguing and unusual. We will learn how to work with different tannin base shades. We will also add color modifiers and indigo to create stunning gradations for stitching, quilting, appliqué, tabletop and other uses. Participants will work in small teams to create generously sized samples suitable for projects. Each team should expect to complete 2-3 palettes, and all participants will receive samples, recipes and documentation for future reference and inspiration.
Skills and techniques
- Discussion about tannins, mordanting, foraging
- Color gradation ideas and unusual color pairings
- The alchemy of color and color surprises
- Creating a palette from natural dye extracts and SMF dye garden bounty
- How to overdye using color modifiers
- How to over dye using indigo
- How to under dye using indigo
Before you come
Details for students
Where
One of the farm's studios, confirmed at check-in. See the campus
Staying on the farm
Housing, meals, the daily schedule, and places to stay nearby are on Prepare for your workshop.
Your instructor
Kathy Hattori
Kathy Hattori is a textile artist deeply involved in colors from natural sources, their history and their modern day uses and applications.
Kathy has been involved with textiles since 1982 and traveled extensively to learn natural dye and textile techniques from treasured mentors. She teaches and lectures about natural dyes and has taught at Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Shakerag, and BARN on Bainbridge Island. She is is the founder and president of Botanical Colors and is sought after worldwide as a speaker about the sustainable use of natural dyes in global textile production.
Questions about this workshop, housing, or meals? Email registrar@sanbornmills.org or call (603) 435-7314. Please read the workshop policies before you register.