Emily Jo Gibbs

Illustrative Appliqué – working with translucent fabrics

4 days: 12th-13th, 15th-16th August 2025

Explore how pieces and layers of translucent fabric can be built up to create different tones and colours, closely observing the subtleties. Create exciting compositions by moving pieces around, see how shapes and colours interplay and overlap creating depth.

What students will achieve

Working through samples and using your own images, you will learn how to build a layered appliqué work and notice how changes in the order in which the fabric is layered and the thread colour subtly changes the outcome. Emily carefully guides you through how she uses a stab stitch action, for construction, then description, observing how stitch length, colour and direction change the nature of the line that you are making. This class suits all levels. You can work on a series of samples or tackle complicated compositions.

Class Materials

There will be a £12 charge for materials. Rosi will supply a metre of cotton fabric, plus dyes and tools needed for the class. You can choose to work on silk at an additional cost.

Rosi Robinson

Pushing Boundaries in Batik

3 days: 12th-14th August 2024

Explore traditional and modern techniques of batik. Discover how to develop them into both pictorial art forms, or purely expressive abstract designs. All skill levels can take a variety of approaches to this traditional Far Eastern resist technique of decorating fabric, using hot wax and fibre-reactive dyes.

What students will achieve Rosi will take you through different projects and will show you how to work individually from your own drawings or photos. During the workshop you will learn different methods of applying hot wax with a variety of tools. Learn how to etch (graffito), how to create texture by crackling and spattering the wax, how to apply colourful dyes by both direct dyeing (hand painting) and by dip-dyeing. Also how to fix the dyes, how to discharge and re-apply colour and how to remove the wax at the end of the process.

Janet Bolton Fabric Pictures

2 days: 15th-16th August 2024

Janet composes textile pictures using the simplest of hand sewing techniques. Her inspiration comes from visual experience, memory, imagination – and sometimes from some quality inspired by the material itself. Join this class to share her techniques and inspiration.

What students will achieve

The main aim of this workshop is to encourage students to develop their own ideas – with Janet’s help readily available. Working directly with the fabric, Janet explains and demonstrates the simple techniques required. She will share her signature ‘needle turning’ appliqué method and help you discover different ways to shape and finish your work. She will demonstrate the exciting process of cutting shapes, rearranging and sewing down the various elements until a pleasing composition is achieved. As Janet says, “the emphasis is what you place where”.