Leaves can transfer natural colour to fabric. In eco-dyeing – also known as plant printing – leaves from different plants are used to print a pattern on fabric. Since India Flint’s books, this dyeing technique has become increasingly common. The trick is that the leaf not only leaves a coloured stain, but that even the grain is visible in the print. At Textile Institute Hawar, we know precisely how to achieve this. Teachers Harm and Margriet will teach you about the natural dyes of different leaves and how to make a nice sharp print.
In this workshop, you will print a soft and summery scarf from Etamine de Laine with your own pattern of different leaves. You don’t need to bring anything for the workshop (but you can – read on!). We will provide a wide choice of leaves. Part of the workshop is fixing, which takes an hour. Of course, you don’t need to be present for this but keep in mind that you won’t be able to take the scarf with you immediately after the workshop. If you like to experiment, you can bring your own plant, tree or flower leaves. We do not know exactly which colour each leaf gives off, but we know from experience that the surprise often makes the result even more beautiful!
Harm Harms is a teacher and owner of the family business Hawar Textile Institute, where teachers from home and abroad pass on knowledge and skills in the large and atmospheric workshop. There is also a very extensive shop and an inspiring gallery, making it an incubator where new and old materials and textile techniques are (re)discovered. During the festival, Margriet Harms will teach the workshops together with Floor de Bruijn. She was a designer at Humanoid and teaches reuse and restyling of clothes and fabrics at Hawar.
Start your weaving adventure: Hand weaving on a table loom for beginners.
During this workshop you will be introduced to the Hand Weaver training. After a short introduction to the different steps of weaving, binding theory and a presentation of different samples, you will have the opportunity to weave on a table loom with shafts. While you experiment with different materials, we will teach you some tricks of the trade. You will learn, among other things, how to make combinations by using different shafts. You will have a table loom available during the entire workshop.
After the workshop we cut your sample and you go home with this sample in which different techniques have been applied. The length of the woven part depends on the materials used, bindings used and the starting weaver.
This workshop is made possible by CVO GENT.
CVO GHENT CHERISHES ITS CRAFT HERITAGE
Crafts contribute to the cultural identity and diversity of our society. They reflect the traditions, values and history of our community. That is why we at CVO GENT believe it is important to keep our cultural heritage alive and to pass it on to this and future generations. We offer 6 crafts; Hand weaving, book binding, lace making, furniture upholstery, ornamental forging and sewing.
HAND WEAVING
In this unique weaving workshop of CVO GENT you will find no fewer than 150 manual looms in all sizes and shapes. During the training you will be introduced to an extensive range of bindings and techniques. You learn everything about the underlying theory, technology and design, and put this into practice. You can experiment with the wide range of yarns in various raw materials and find out which loom, technique and design are your favorite.
Ingrid De Smul studied Fashion, Textile, Stage Costume and Furniture Design. A result of her love of working with yarn from an early age and thus delving into hand weaving, in which she was also trained. She has been teaching the craft to students in the hand weaving course for several years now. Because learning is never done, she further strengthens her weaving knowledge through various domestic and foreign experiences.
Els Vande Kerckhove ended up in the textile sector through her work as a graphic designer. Els took hand weaving courses in Brussels, Ghent, Florence, Norway and Mexico. She loves the combination of traditional techniques with contemporary designs.
In this workshop you will learn more about Romanian heritage and you will pick up thread and needle and learn how to embroider. Your embroidered piece of textile is yours to bring home!
Sewn Signs (Semne Cusute) are a visual, universal language used by women to encode information, express their status and their vision of the world. Embroidery is communication in style. The needle & thread, and the embroidery techniques are something we all could learn, no matter of age, gender, religion or ethnic background – being so much related to math and geometry. So, where can this craft take us to?
Romanian traditional shirts were always about socialising, as it was all about expression. Our Grandmothers embroidered their stories on shirts knowing that an educated public will be able to appreciate it. However, the creative process was intimate, and secret, as their appearance was also meant to impress. Techniques, patterns, combinations – were kept in high secrecy, and in many cases scarcely shared afterwards. Sharing all the stages of the process, with all the explanations is the new start, and a big change of the 21st century.
This workshop is supported by the University of Antwerp / Tracks4Changes
This installation allows every visitor to contribute to a giant circular loom.
Just roll up your sleeves, smile, and create something substantial connecting with all those who have gone before or are following you.
What is the Mexican carmine red? It has a special intensity and brilliant shine. This color comes from an insect that grows on a cactus called “Nopal”. This edible cactus serves as a home for the “Cochinilla” to reproduce. Today, cochineal is produced in Mexico and painters and contemporary artists use it to create works of art.
In this workshop you will take a journey through the history of the Grana Cochinilla (cochineal aphid): What does it look like? Where is it produced? What is it? Where does it come from and how is it used? You will be able to see in detail how the natural fiber dyeing process works and how the pigment can be used to create other products, including painting a watercolor. After this demonstration you will get to work with the pigments yourself by creating a colorful watercolor.
Thamara Cruz is from Mexico, and has lived in Belgium since 2010. She is a traditional textile designer, graduated from the EDINBA National School. Through her commitment to social development and the promotion of the craft sector, she has participated in the implementation of rural, social and community projects. She is an employee and co-founder of Desarrollo de Proyectos Artesanales y Diseño DEPROART A.C. in Mexico and SIEMPRE in Belgium, an organization whose mission is to make citizen participation visible.
Mexico has a great textile tradition. The entire process is 100% artisanal. For many women, weaving cloth means that they can work autonomously, and it is a craft that they can pursue alongside all their other duties. The women find and dye the threads themselves.
As a child, Thamara was intrigued by the women who made cloth with seven sticks. Those sticks stayed in the air almost all the time. To her it had something of sorcery, magic. As a child, she learned to weave as it is customary in her country: sitting with a group of women who weaved and talked. In this way, she acquired the technology unconsciously, such as learning a language. Later the women showed how to do something. By repeating it a lot, she learned to interpret the weaving patterns. She became enchanted by it. To such an extent that she later went on to study industrial textiles. This knowledge of both techniques remains one of her many strengths to this day.
Erfgoedcel Brussel.
This workshop is made possible by Erfgoedcel Brussel.
A colorful watercolor made with Mexican carmine red by Alejandro Martínez.
A textile designer, also called a ‘Surface Designer’, designs motifs and patterns that decorate all kinds of surfaces. Think of fabrics, wallpaper, ceramics, etc. These range from simple geometric motifs to complex winding branches between flower and leaf.
The trick is to make motifs flow seamlessly into each other so that they can repeat themselves in all directions ad infinitum. One such repetitive piece is called a ‘report’. A bit comparable to how bricks repeat themselves in a wall.
Sound complicated? Come discover it and try it for yourself! Using existing prints and practical examples, Margot explains what a report is and how to look for it. Did you catch it? Then you can cut out a motif yourself and paste it repeatedly on paper. If you want, you can draw and finish with marker. Afterwards you take the bundle of prints home with you along with your own design.
Margot Billiet has been active in the international world of textiles and decoration for 30 years. With Atelier Billiet she not only designs new drawings, but also specializes in reconstructions of historical or old motifs for custom-made wall coverings or textiles.
“As a classically trained textile designer, I learned the trade in the traditional way with pencil on tracing paper and finishing with brush and gouache. I specialize in drawing designs and motifs that can be seamlessly repeated in all directions and ad infinitum. I work both manually and with the computer, in all possible styles. The knowledge I have gained during my 30-year career as a ‘surface designer’ encouraged me to develop a more sustainable and thoughtful approach. Not an abundance of products, but small runs in high-quality materials. Making what is necessary. I recently started delving into something that has been an interest for years: historical reproduction techniques and reconstructions of patterns. I mainly focus on wallpaper and use a combination of digital printing and screen printing. I work to order for companies and private individuals.”
This workshop is made possible by Handmade in Brugge.
This workshop focuses on the art of felting with raw wool. You will become acquainted with various felting techniques, using natural materials such as pure wool and Marseille soap.
You will learn how to transform raw wool and create patterns and textures, using only wool and soap and your hands!
You will work with colorful materials in a fun, relaxed and creative way and leave with newly learned skills and your own unique object.
The workshop is taught by Salomé and Mimouna, who have been working together for years in various textile forms such as embroidery, weaving and felting. They are passionate about sharing their knowledge with people from all backgrounds. Their art is exhibited at home and abroad.
Salomé Grdzelischvili is an artist who works with natural and dyed wool. She can make almost anything related to textiles from this organic, pure and natural substance: carpets, decorations, jewelry. She learned the technique of felting and weaving carpets in her native Georgia. Her practice gives life to figurative textile creations – often based on iconographic images from art history – and abstract creations. She organizes workshops for adults and children on the practice of felting.
This workshop is made possible by Erfgoedcel Brussel.
Bobbin lace is Flemish heritage, but make no mistake, the craft is alive and surprisingly contemporary. See the bobbins dance in the Texture museum in Kortrijk. Here we make magic with thread during weekly bobbin lace workshops.
We are happy to teach you this finger trick during the workshop. Under the guidance of a pair of experienced hands, you will make a colorful ribbon. This way you will learn the basic principles of bobbin lace. You can take your own creation home as a souvenir.
Susanna Van Nes is a permanent teacher in the lace workshop of Texture, a museum of flax and textiles in Kortrijk. She supervises weekly workshops for both novice bobbers and experienced hands.
In Studio Texture, the museum’s studio, you can work with textile techniques and soft materials yourself. Here we pass on the craftsmanship of yesterday and today and use them as inspiration for applications and materials tomorrow. Be inspired by our workshops and masterclasses, meet other makers and get started with our tools and materials. In this way we are building an open and shared workshop for both professionals and enthusiasts, with time and space for sustainable, curious and future-oriented experiments.
This workshop is made possible by museum Texture.
Buttons have been used for centuries as a special accent on a piece of clothing, just think of the silver buttons from Zeeland, which are worn as jewelry.
Handmade buttons from fabric, ribbon, beads and embroidery threads can be made around a simple ring or a fabric button. You can make them as simple or elaborate as you want, you can literally build on them!
In this workshop you will make 2 craft buttons of your choice. Monique brings several examples and lots of materials such as ribbons and straps, beads and embroidery threads, so that you can customize your buttons completely to your own taste. She teaches you how to make a knot with beautiful materials, a simple ring, and needle and thread.
Monique van Munster has been studying handicraft techniques for more than thirty-five years and is now a specialist in embroidery. She is fascinated by the infinite possibilities of needle and thread. She wants to know how something is made, she investigates many techniques and applications. The research does not focus on being able to reproduce historical and traditional embroideries, but serves more as inspiration and interpretation. Monique attaches great importance to preserving her craft and wants to share her skills with others, so she teaches in her own studio in Tilburg, and wherever she is invited to share her knowledge, such as now at the Ambacht in Beeld Festival.
