Dye plants and naturale dyeing workshops

The dyeing workshop doesn’t take a winter break. If the weather is suitable, we’ll start with a walk around the château grounds. The practical workshop will concentrate on the use of dried plants in dyeing, but also on lichens, barks and mushrooms. A visit to the Chintz Centre, focusing on some of the cloths, rounds off the programme.

This workshop is a chance to touch and work with a wide variety of animal and vegetable fibres. In particular, you’ll dye some raw cotton and nettle fibre, and also gain an introduction to spinning and weaving rope and felting wool. It’s a fascinating “back-to-the-roots” experience! A visit to the Chintz Centre, focusing on some of the cloths, rounds off the programme.

This workshop begins with a walk around the château’s parkland and orchard. After gathering a few selected plants, you’ll discover the dye properties of what are usually regarded as weeds, such as brambles, wild carrots and ribwort. A visit to the Chintz Centre, focusing on some of the cloths, rounds off the programme.

Originally from China or Africa and widely grown in southern France in the 18th century, a number of plants can be used to obtain the much sought-after indigo blue. We’ll set off to find them, and also explore the Japanese technique of shibori. A visit to the Chintz Centre, focusing on some of the cloths, rounds off the programme.

We take advantage of the summer weather to visit the château’s kitchen garden and gather various plants to add yellows and oranges to our summer palette: coreopsis, golden marguerite (also known as dyer’s chamomile), not forgetting madder, the undisputed star with its sumptuous reds. A visit to the Chintz Centre, focusing on some of the cloths, rounds off the programme.

This workshop focuses on autumn colours, with dyeing on fabric but also samples on paper, as we look at inks and vegetable pigments together. A visit to the Chintz Centre, focusing on some of the cloths, rounds off the programme.