Learn how to dye beautiful textiles with the ancient blue plant dyes indigo and woad. Learn the fundamentals of working with this beautiful historic blue dye along with growing, extracting, and experimenting with indigo.

In this workshop, you will:

• Learn to create and maintain an indigo vat
• Dye natural fiber goods with indigo
• Learn about tied resists like shibori and prepping fabric
• Observe a demo using homegrown woad and indigo leaves

Dyes and fabric to dye are provided!

Feel free to bring your own goods to dye, but please limit to a single small item as we are only working with 5 gallon pots. Please avoid large or bulky pieces (towels, clothing, linens, bedding, etc.). Natural plant fibers (cotton, linen, rayon, ramie) work best for this workshop.

Instructor: Tara Webb

About the Instructor

Tara Webb is a Lecturer in Costume Technology at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. She comes to UNC-G from Swarthmore College, where she was the Costume Shop Manager and taught “Introduction to Media Design for Performance.” She also coordinated video installations and was an Artist-in-Residence at the Hacktory Makerspace in Philadelphia. Previously she taught “Costume Design for Film and Stage” at Philadelphia University. She has also presented a number of workshops including “Acting in Period Costume,” “Sustainability Advocacy,” and “The Art of Pounding Plants.”

Webb’s designs have been seen at Drexel University, Juniata College, MIT, Swarthmore College, and the University of Pennsylvania. Recent projects include collaboration with other artists at the Marth Graham Cracker Cabaret, National Constitution Center, New Paradise Laboratories, Nichole Canuso Dance Company, Suli Holum/The Work, and Trey Lyford/Gimmick. In addition to costumes, she has also designed promotional wearables for corporate events, and custom soft goods and interior textiles for restaurants and businesses.

Webb is impassioned about sustainability in the arts. She is currently making natural dyes from local plants and exploring surface design using non-toxic organics and food waste. Recent fabric ventures include dyeing linen produce bags for the Kitchen Garden Series and leading workshops in natural dyecraft for the Brandywine Museum of Art, DelCo Arts Consortium, and the Scott Arboretum.

Webb holds an MA in Visual Culture: Costume Studies from NYU and a BA in Theatre Studies from Swarthmore College.