1.  Bright Colours from Natural Dyes - Discover the beauty and advantages of
natural dyes. You will learn how to use them, as I share the secrets of bright
colours from natural dyes. This lecture covers the history of dye plants and how
to grow them. You will be able to see actual dye plants and find out which
colours they produce from samples of dyed silk and wool.
 A True Blue – Woad & Indigo - Find out how old blue dyes really are and
how many different plants produce blue. The lecture starts with woad, from the
Neolithic to its present day revival. You will then find out how to get amazing
blues with an indigo vat. The lecture ends with a discussion on sustainability in
textiles with a focus on indigo.
 Plant Fibres: from Nettles to Soy Silk –A lecture on the wide variety of plant
fibres. You will see samples of raw fibre (nettles, flax, hemp, cotton, jute, coir,
kapok, bamboo, soy silk), and fell how they behave in knitted and woven
fabrics. You will be able to feel how each fibre differs and behaves. At the end,
we discuss the impact of different fibres on the environment. This lecture was
considered ‘Informative and entertaining’ by a WSD guild.
 Animal Fibres: from Angora to Yak - Presents a wealth of interesting facts
about sheep wool and its difference from alpaca, with its many natural colours
as well as information on less common fibre animals from all over the world
(cashmere, musk ox, possum, vicuna, yak). You will see samples of the raw
fibre, as well as a knitted and a woven square in each fibre.
 Why Silk? What is so special about silk? What animals produce silk? What is
the difference between mulberry and tussah silk? How do you get silk from a
cocoon? How old is silk weaving? You will find out the answers to these and
many other questions in this lecture. Samples include silk hankies, nuno felting,
silk paper, different silk fabrics and cocoons from several species of silk moths.
This has been described as ‘A spellbinding talk’ by a WSD guild. [Can be
combined with the ‘Working with Silk’ workshop for a full day event.]