Saturday 25 & Sunday 26 May 2024, Textile Flowers (Silk Abaca Rose) with Anne Tomlin

16:00 - 19:00 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)

Hosted on Zoom by Anne Tomlin

Anne has a first-class degree in Textiles from UCA Farnham. She then studied Millinery at The London College of Fashion. Anne now specialises in studying flowers and capturing their detail using silk and paper clay and both French and Japanese tools with techniques she has developed over many years. Teaching is important to her in passing on skills she has acquired and continuing her quest to raise awareness of the natural world and the importance of bio-diversity, so evident in her complex, detailed studies of flowers.

Anne now works to commission and collaborates with designers, artists and museums as well as developing her own work for exhibitions. Her book ‘Making Silk Flowers” is to be published at the end of October.

Outline of the workshop

In this workshop, you will learn how to make all the elements of a silk abaca rose based on the David Austin rose, ‘The Lady’s Blush.’ Anne will show you how to make a beautiful, realistic flower, including making your own stamens and shaping petals. Although she will talk you through how she uses specialist flower tools, this rose is made without them. 

Your fabric pack contains three powdered dyes. These are procion reactive dyes, and you’ll make a paste with each one, and with them, you’ll be able to make many colours and shades. You will also discover how to blend these dyes and paint petals with them using a range of brushes.

Anne will show you a technique that will enable you to shape the petals without using specialist heated flower tools. She will also show you ways of constructing the rose to look natural and balanced, and how to work with paper clay to make a very fine calyx

You will also make a leaf using the grain of the abaca silk, bind stems with silk floss.

A material pack will be sent to participants prior to the workshop containing:

- Paper Clay in a sealed bag
- wires 35, 26, 28
- Silk satin stiffened
- Green silk Habotai
- Abaca silk stiffened and bonded with fusible film
- Silk satin Calyx cut out
- Powdered Dyes: fuchsia, yellow, and turquoise, in sealed bags
- Silk floss
- Templates and a worksheet will be provided

Additional material list (not provided)

- Small Piece of polystyrene
- Long pointed tweezers
- Small 50g jars or airtight containers to store your dyes
- Iron and padded surface to iron on 
- Teflon pressing sheets or baking paper
- Pots or jam jars to mix dyes and for water
- Teaspoons
- Paint brushes 1/4 inch flat-ended brush, soft blending brush, small pointed brush
- Heat source, stove top or heated element
- Small, sharp, pointed scissors
- Needle and thread
- Fine flour such as corn flour
- Tacky glue / PVA
- Small wire cutters

Please note: material packs are shipped on an insured, trackable delivery service. Any customs duties, delays, lost or undeliverable packs are the responsibility of the customer. Once a material pack leaves the workshop tutors' hands with a tracking number, the seller has no further obligation to the buyer.

Workshop recording: 
The workshop will be recorded and the recording will be shared with you after the workshop. Please allow 7 working days for us to send you the recording.

Workshop Cancellation Policy
All places reserved on workshops are non refundable, however, if you let us know you are not able to make a workshop you have booked at least two weeks prior to the event, we will offer a credit note.
If you require additional information about this workshop please contact events@selvedge.org.