the alchemist's apron

A self-study course in the making of an alchemist's apron embellished by a rich vocabulary of marks harvested from the landscape, together with trinkets and talismans from your personal collection and small found objects gathered along the way.

The apron will abound with pockets for pencils, poems and pebbles, be blessed by the addition of stitched embellishments and appliqued dyed scraps. We will make it by cutting into a pre-loved shirt and transforming it by turning it around on the body. It’s a marvelous zero waste means of making a versatile garment that is much more than simply something to keep splashes from the clothing worn underneath.

We will dye threads and cloth, make simple but effective mordants, discuss the botanical alchemy of bundle dyeing and explore some preservation dyeing. We will even fold a special notebook to go in one of the pockets.

I'll share my favourite stitches and be your guide through the virtual forest, helping you choose leaves and showing you how to best use them for printing.

This is an expanded version of the amuletic apron workshop I have taught around the whirled and while we may not be sitting at the same table, we shall have all the time we need.

And when your apron is complete, I hope that the ritual of putting it on will become a part of your daily practice as you step into your studio to begin your creative work.