Jorie Johnson, Instructor | Thursday & Friday, August 3 & 4, 2023 | 9:30 am – 4:00 pm PST

LIVE Location: WSNF’s Slow Fiber Studio Annex, Berkeley, CA | 

REMOTE Students: Online via ZOOM

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Jorie enjoyed teaching this class in Japan during an International Shibori Symposium. Add a dash of color to your wardrobe. Make soft round or long logs of felt shapes; and clamp, squash, and compress them with boards and strings before dyeing. The resulting forms and patterns make unique, colorful felt body ornaments.

We will use small plastic resists (4 in x 16 in /10 cm x 40 cm) to make the 3-D log beads. (ex. 1-2 mm thick foam sheeting used for packing material, or a thick plastic sheet to wrap the wool around.) Acid-dye pots will be prepared for Day 2 to apply shape-resist and itajime-dyed color accents. Regular “ball” beads are solid and need no resist.

Class format: 1 hour instructions and demos at 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., and 2 p.m. (lunch at 12:30 – 1:30). At these designated times, students will be expected to stop working to listen and observe Jorie’s instructions. The rest of the time will be set aside for practice and Q&A while practicing.

Workshop Registration Info

2-day Workshop Fee: $700 (WSNF members $600) Plus a materials fee paid directly to the instructor. WSNF members: Look for the member’s DISCOUNT CODE on your member’s dashboard.

Recordings of Jorie’s instructions for both days will be available to review afterwards on SlowFiberTV (SFTV). After the workshop, go to SFTV to rent, free of charge, a streamed recording of this workshop for 90 days to review the workshop for additional practice! The code for free rental will be emailed to you upon completion of the workshop.

Materials and Equipment List, LIVE & ONLINE STUDENTS

(Resources for online shops will be available in the registration confirmation email.)

General List:

(Please base amounts on the size of your project.)

-2 x hand towels,

-sharp pointed scissors, small sewing kit (pins, tape measure, needle & thread, marker pen, notebook, etc.)

-2 x soft plastic hand-size bags for rubbing surfaces

-small chunk of soap

-felting solution applicator (plastic bottle with shower top or holes punched in cap), small shampoo

-light plastic sheet 15 x 15 inches for rolling work in

-1/2~1 inch diam. rolling rod (pvc pipe, dowel, stainless)

-Additional useful item (if you own): a digital scale for dyes (We will measure small quantities in grams.)

Workshop #3 List: 

-Small bamboo rolling mat for cord making

-Coated linen pendant cord & “Futon needle” for use in stringing

-Matching pair of small wooden boards (ex. 4 x 8 x 0.5 in.) and 2 x C-clamps for Ita-jime effect

-Thick, short rubber bands for Shibori wrapping effect

-Zip pulls ties (with lock release if possible)

-6-8 inch 1/2 in dowels to wrap around

-Thick rubber gloves for dyeing

-Spaghetti measure is helpful for consistent size beads

-Merino wool as Bead Base: in a variety of bright colors in small quantities

*Check for an used copy on Amazon.com of Making Beautiful Beads (Lark Books 2002) in which Jorie’s felt bead models were featured in a 17-page how-to spread. From round and unusual shaped beads to crescent pendants including basics for feltmaking and shibori dyeing for color effect.