Intro to Natural Dyeing with Wine

Wednesday, September 30, 2026 | 1-4 PM
FREE

This workshop was designed for 2SLGBTQI+ community members and is generously sponsored by the Community One Foundation.

Natural dyeing of fabric is the process of adding pigment to textiles using organic colorants, often derived from plants, or materials found around the home such as turmeric or tea. This process involves scouring the fabric, applying a mordant, and then pigmenting the dye through boiling the fabric.

In this workshop, wine will be used as a natural dye. Wine is thoroughly embedded with symbolic meaning in our culture, whether it evokes blood, decadence, or even religious guilt. It can be seen as part of the everyday or part of the occult. Using red wine participants will choose their own meaning associated with the wine dyeing process, and create a new relationship with their fabric through created narratives.

For any accessibility needs, please contact Isabelle Sain (isain@textilemuseum.ca)

This workshop has been generously sponsored by the Community One Foundation.

Type: Program

Date: Sep 30, 2026, 1pm - Sep 30, 2026, 4pm

About Second Life: Sustainable Textile Workshops

Second Life: Sustainable Textile Workshops is a series of free; sustainability focused workshops developed with the Textile Museum of Canada and contemporary local artists. The series converges ecological thinking with art-making opportunities for our community. Starting in January, each month, the Museum will bring in an artist who confronts the climate crisis by rethinking materials and reimagining textile processes, decolonial methodologies, and sustainable craft traditions. Together, artist and participants will reform reused materials to create new works of art through a variety of techniques. These textile-focused artistic mediums will include weaving, embroidery, crocheting, quilting, natural dyeing, felting, upcycled fashion, or mixed-media fibre practices.

Facilitator Bio:

E Li is an artist traversing queer, trans, and racialized identity politics. His work gestures towards a horizon defined by the radical embodiment of queer racialized lives. Taught how to use machine sew by his grandmother one summer at age 12, he has roots in textile art through fabrication and play. He is currently launching a project to distribute free gender affirming chest binders.