Botanical Nomad by Ira Bekker is hosting a series of wool processing classes at Kim Sacks Gallery in Parktown from 14 to 16 July. This is the perfect opportunity to get an introduction to age-old artisanal design processes and is ideal for fashion label owners, students, or anyone just looking to learn more about wool.
Bekker is a botanical fabric artist that is passionate about sharing the craft with as many people as possible. The Kim Sacks Gallery is the perfect venue for these sessions and offers a light filled space. Classes are kept small to provide students with enough individual attention.
See the lineup of workshops below.
WOOL PROCESSING
When: Friday, 14 July from 10am to 3pm
Cost: R950pp, all materials included. Call
This gentle workshop covers the process sheared wool must undergo to make it suitable for spinning on a spindle or spinning wheel. Bekker will guide on how to wash, dry, sort, and cardle sheared fibres. There’s also a segment that shares how to properly use hand and drum carders to align fibres for spinning. Students leave the workshop with their own Turkish spindle and Merino and Alpaca wool to practice with at home.
SPINNING ON A SPINNING WHEEL
When: Saturday, 15 July from 9:30am to 4pm
Cost: R1500pp, all materials included. Call
The hand-spinning wool class taught by Bekker is completely beginner friendly and a great way to get back to ancient times and learn the origin of weaving. All fibres are sourced and 8 spinning wheels are available on loan for the duration of the class. If you have your own spinning wheel, do take yours along.
Students will get to know all the parts and processes of the spinning wheel, prepare and spin from a whole range of other fibres, and explore spinning techniques. By the end of the session, students will have an understanding of how to spin a balanced yarn that can then be used for knitting and weaving.
BOTANICAL DYEING ON WOOL
When: Sunday, 16 July from 9:30am to 4pm
Cost: R1500pp, all materials included
Join Bekker for this full-day workshop where you will learn how to dye hand-spun wool from the spinning workshop as well as superwash merino wool. The process uses a variety of leaves, bark, seedpods and flowers that can be sourced from everyday nature.
You will learn how to prepare fibres, the various ways of extracting colour from botanicals, and the role of tannins and acids. and how to create a well-fixed colour in different tones and hues. The session will then experiment with ways to create a well-fixed colour and delve into even more tones and hues.
Guests go home with approximately 12 skeins of wool (100g in total) dyed with local botanicals and information on how to continue experimenting at home.
Where: Kim Sacks Gallery, 153 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood, Johannesburg
Tel: 083 739 7139 (Ira Bekker) or 083 377 7499 (Kim Sacks)
Email: [email protected]
Website: kimsacks.com
Facebook: @Botanical-Nomad
Instagram: @botanical_nomad
