The Natural Dyers Academy ~ Here we are!

So exciting! With the booking dates opening soon, I wanted to give you a little peep of our new platform called ~ The Natural Dyers Community Platform ~  where ~ The Natural Dyers Academy is the dedicated space for courses and workshop and the 1 year course will be hosted on.  I have now updated the listing with a clearer picture and outline of the course:

You can join the free community space of the Natural Dyers Academy here!

The Course

This course is fully online, consists of 12 modules; scheduled over 12 months, starting mid January of each year. Please keep in mind that spaces are limited to a maximum of 15 students per group, with a total of 30 spaces available.

Booking will open in September of each year for the following year. Each module will open on the first of the month giving you access to written and illustrated material, to guide you through the particular topic of that module. Each module also contains a quiz and a project; which will result in recipes and samples for your portfolio on that topic. 

The Structure

With each module you will have approximately 1 week to read through and familiarize yourself with that topic, followed by an online live session to revise the material and help you prepare for that module's portfolio work. On the last week of each month, there will be a second live session to review your portfolio work, consolidate knowledge for that module and answer any questions remaining. All live sessions will be recorded and available for anyone unable to attend on the day. 

Each of the modules are supported by dedicated Collaborative Exchange Spaces on the platform where participants can post their creations, ask questions and connect on that topic. During the final project work, there will be a 20min 1:1 session for each participant.

The Content

The 12 modules will cover the following: 

1. Fibres and their differences (Jan)
2. All about Mordanting (Feb)
3. Using Tannins (March)
4. Creating Yellows(April)
5. Creating Reds ( May)
6. Creating Blues (June)
7. Creating Secondary Colours (July)
8. Creating More Secondary Colours (Aug)
9. Lake making and other Processes (Sept)
10.  Printing and other Techniques (Oct)
11.  Industry standards/Personal project (Nov)
12. Personal Projects & presentations (Nov/Dec)

The Special addition

Throughout the course there will also be an option to take part in 5 online sessions, taught by organic gardener and seed saver Tristan Lienhard; on growing Woad, Weld, Madder and other dye plants organically. This will include organic horticultural principles, sowing and specific requirements for each crop, harvesting and seed saving. 

The Celebration

All projects will be presented and celebrated during the final 2 weeks of the course. The course will conclude in the first week of December with a final live session, where each participant will receive their AppleOak FibreWorks Natural Dye Academy certificate. 

The Time Required

Depending on the module you will need roughly 12 -25 hours per month to read through the course work, attend the live sessions and complete the portfolio work.

Course outcome

After attending this course, you will be able to open up your own professional dye practice, incorporate natural dyeing in your art or crafting business successfully, teach others, take it further or simply become a really good home/hobby dyer. 

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The course is totally suitable for abroad students, with being hosted online. To have a basic knowledge of natural dyeing is definitely an advantage, but not necessary. Depending on numbers, we will have 1-2 groups as stated above.

There will be a "Meet & Greet" session scheduled as soon as we have enough students to run the course (minimum of 10). Please keep in mind that dye ingredients need to be purchased separately and that you will need equipment too, should you not be set up already. We will give you a few option to choose from and I will add an ingredients/equipment list shortly.

And here it is! After booking your space, you will have access to our freshly created 1 year Professional Dyers Course! Where we will have a video showing you how to navigate.

 The screen shots aren't brilliant on this blog post for some reason, but they will give you an idea. Each module will unlock on the 1st of each month, divided into different lessons. You have a few days to familiarize yourself with the content before we meet. During our live meet, I will look at the different lessons and project work including a power point presentation or similar. Any questions will be answered and you hopefully will feel prepared enough to embark on your project work. 

After completion, we will meet again, share our experiences, reflect and answer further questions. 

Each module is made of individual lessons and chat options are open throughout the course where you can post questions any time, either module related or lesson related.

I hope you like what you see! If you have any questions, let me know! x Jennifer

Frequently asked questions

Q: How much is the course?

A: For 2025 the course fees will be 1450Euros for the entire year or 135Euros a month for 12 months. The first payment of 135Euros is non - refundable, but will pay for January. For Students who pay in full, 135Euros enrollment fee will be taken off the refund. There will likely be funding available for Irish students for 2025.

Q: How do I sign up?

A: Please follow this link to book your space or send me an email @ appleoakfibers@hotmail.com - Book my space