Echo Dyed Silk Scarves: Botanical Printing Workshop

Echo Dyed Silk Scarves: A Botanical Printing Workshop

Instructor: Laurel Gutenberg

Date: Sunday, November 23, 2025

Time: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Location: The Art League – 800 Slaters Lane, Alexandria, VA

Level: All levels welcome

Capture nature’s beauty in silk!

Join artist Laurel Gutenberg for a day of hands-on exploration and creativity in this fiber arts workshop at The Art League. Learn the art of eco dyeing—a natural process that uses leaves, flowers, and plant materials to transfer organic patterns and colors onto fabric.

In this workshop, you’ll:

• Explore the basics of botanical (eco) printing

• Experiment with layouts, layering techniques, and color combinations

• Use natural materials to create a one-of-a-kind silk scarf

• Learn tips and tricks for successful printing and finishing

Each student will design and complete a wearable silk scarf that reflects their personal style and creativity. Time is built in for experimentation and artistic discovery.

Most materials are provided. No experience is necessary—just bring your curiosity and a love of nature and color!

🌿 Create something beautiful and leave with a piece of wearable art—made by you.

For questions, contact The Art League School at 703-683-2323 or visit www.theartleague.org.

Supply List & Foraging Tips:

• You will need to bring enough leaves to cover your projects, as densely or sparsely as you like. It’s good to have more than you think you will need, and plenty to experiment with!
• Around 80-100 leaves are a good place to start, if you can collect them. Fresh leaves are ideal. I recommend keeping an eye out for good sources of leaves and then picking them the morning of class or the day before.
• You can use dry leaves, though old leaves may not work quite as well. No special preparation is needed, as long as they don’t mold or crumble. We will soak dry leaves to make them flexible again.
• Maples, oaks, ferns, etc. work very well. Mulberry, tulip poplar, wild grape, and pokeweed flower or berry sprigs are others to try.
• You can also try walnut, sumac, black locust, alder, blueberry, willow, buckthorn, birch, goldenrod, redbud, fig, strawberry, rose, cottonwood, sweet gum, blackberry, sassafras, passionflower, Virginia creeper, or anything else that has a shape or texture that you like—experiment!
• Along with leaves, you can try flowers, stems, roots, etc, as long as they are not woody or thick-like grass that has gone to seed, leaves along a thin vine. I don’t recommend anything too stiff or three-dimensional (including thick grasses and large flowers), but you can always give it a try!