*Only FOUR spaces remaining!*

This 4 week course is an invitation to experiment. Rather than following set patterns, you’ll explore the full creative potential of textiles— playing, layering, manipulating and discovering what happens when you treat fabric as an artist’s medium.

Over the four weeks, you’ll try a range of techniques: manipulating fabric to create peaks, troughs and ruffles; fraying and layering; hand stitching to develop a repeating motif of your own, creating twisted cords and couching them by hand, using dissolvable materials to create new fabric and sandwiching fabrics to build up texture and depth; making simple but effective stamps to print with; and melting materials with heat to create striking results. Sustainable and experimental ways of working are featured throughout. You will take home samples to build your creative repertoire, inspiring design and development ideas for future projects.

No two people will produce the same results — that’s the intention and the beauty of this creative style.

All levels are welcome. Familiarity with basic stitching on a sewing machine will help you get the most from the course.

Louise Platts is a self-taught Textile artist with a PhD in pathology, whose fascination with the microscopic world — cells, biological patterns and the structures within nature — feeds directly into her richly detailed, experimental work. She has trained at the London College of Fashion (millinery), Curwen Print Study Centre (fine art printmaking) as well as exploring contemporary collage and eco-dyeing, and brings an endlessly curious, cross-disciplinary approach to everything she teaches.

All materials will be provided; however this is also an ideal opportunity to start using up some of your fabric stash, threads and embellishments you love but don’t know what to do with and dyed fabrics you’ve created – bring a small selection with you if you like. If you have your own sewing machine, it’s well worth bringing it; Louise can give you advice on getting the best from it in the context of these techniques.

Places are limited — book early to avoid missing out.

£120 for 4 week course

Please note there are no sessions on Mondays 4th and 25th May, and on Thursday 28th May.