Textiles — Rhian Sutcliffe

BatikBatik is an ancient textile technique where hot wax is applied to fabric using a tool called a tjanting. Fabric is stretched onto a frame and the tjanting is dipped into a pot of melted wax and used as a drawing tool to create patterns and illustrations. Coloured dyes are then painted onto the fabric, the lines of wax resist the colour, creating striking designs.

WeaveWeave is immensely versatile and can be done as small individual explorations of colour and texture using threads, strips of fabric and papers or on large group projects such as to decorate outdoor spaces e.g. trees, fences, walls. It's something which is accessible to a wide range of abilities and can make good use of low cost and recycled materials.

Tie-dyeThe process of tie-dye can be either complex or simplified depending on the group, working environment and individual participants. E.g. a simplified workshop would involve basic patterns with dyes applied to the fabric with thick brushes. More complex workshops would involve intricate patterns created by taking more time and care into the process of gathering and tying the fabric in specific planned out areas, and applying multiple stages of dye.

Rag RugA brilliant way to make use of old scraps of fabrics and unwanted clothes. The fabrics are ripped into small strips and pulled through hessian fabric with a special hooked tool. My sessions aim to give a snapshot of this technique and participants can create a sample piece, combining the fabrics in their own unique ways into sections and stripes on the session. Making a full sized rug requires great time and patience!

PrintingFabric paints and inks are applied to the surface of fabrics using various techniques such as stencilling, stamping and screen printing to create bespoke graphic designs. The printing can be done onto blank T-Shirts / bags etc or simply blank pieces of fabric which could then be stitched into a functional item at a later stage.

Felt MakingFelt is a non-woven textile that is made by shrinking or matting wool fibres together. The fibres are layered onto sheets of bubble wrap, sprayed with a solution of soap and water and worked into with hands to compress the layers together. This is a tactile and sensory workshop that is very simple to participate in with rewarding colourful end results that can then be further worked on e.g. cut into shapes, stitched.