Urban Composting
Instructor: Joe Klinkhoff
Course Dates: Saturday 3/21 from 10am - 12pm
Location: NCC East 40
3835 Green Pond Road
Bethlehem, PA 18020
Cost: $39
Course Description: Explore several "small batch" composting methods suitable for the urban environment, while learning how to reduce waste. A detailed examination of each method including equipment, space needed, and steps in the process will be covered. Learn how to use the finished products in our living spaces, feeding our soil and plants with the goodness we have created.
Natural Dye: Green Workshop
Instructor: Cindy Vojnovic
Course Dates: Wednesday 5/13, Thursday 5/14, Friday 5/15 from 4 - 5:30pm. You must attend all dates listed.
Location: NCC East 40
3835 Green Pond Road
Bethlehem, PA 18020
Course Price: $61
Course Description: Dyeing first with yellow and overdyeing with blue is the best method to get a range of greens with natural dyes. Goldenrod harvested from the East 40 and onion skins leftover from cooking will provide the yellow base, while indigo will be used for the blue overdye. After dyeing with yellow, students can selectively block the overdye with various methods that will be demonstrated to obtain a yellow and green pattern.
Included in the goody bag each student receives are a bamboo rayon scarf, a 27” square organic cotton tea towel, a 16” square organic cotton hankie, a 10 yard skein of “Stunning” superwash merino wool yarn and swatches of Silk Charmeuse and bamboo rayon. Preparing fiber for natural dyeing is significant, and has already been done for all these fibers.
Natural Dye: Reds Workshop
Instructor: Cindy Vojnovic
Course Dates: Wednesday 7/22 and Thursday 7/23 from 4 - 6:30pm. You must attend all dates listed.
Location: NCC East 40
3835 Green Pond Road
Bethlehem, PA 18020
Course Price: $80
Course Description: Roots of the madder plant and dried cochineal beetles are the most permanent of the reds in natural dyeing, and they will both be used in this workshop, both individually and in combination with each other. Overdyes and afterbaths and other options for shifting the color will be covered, helping students to achieve a variety of reds, from a warm brownish red or even orange through deep reds to cool, almost purplish red.
Included in the goody bag each student receives are a bamboo rayon scarf, a 27” square organic cotton tea towel, a 16” square organic cotton hankie, a 10 yard skein “Stunning” Superwash Merino Wool yarn and swatches of Silk Charmeuse and Bamboo rayon. Preparing fiber for natural dyeing is significant, especially for reds, and all these fibers are already prepared especially for the dyes being used in the class.
Natural Dye: Blues Workshop
Instructor: Cindy Vojnovic
Course Dates: Wednesday 7/29 and Thursday 7/30 from 4 - 6:30pm. You must attend all dates listed.
Location: NCC East 40
3835 Green Pond Road
Bethlehem, PA 18020
Course Price: $62
Course Description: In this class you will get to work both with indigo and the European plant woad that was the source of blue for the Unicorn Tapestries, the Book of Kells and countless other works of art. The organic indigo was grown in a warmer climate, but the woad is grown on the East 40. Indigo works much differently than most natural dyes, you will learn about the “vat” reduction method used to extract the dye, and witness the strange magic of pulling something out that looks green and watching it turn to blue when exposed to oxygen. You can try your hand at some basic tie dye/shibori methods which will be demonstrated.
Included in the goody bag each student receives are a bamboo rayon scarf, a 27” square organic cotton tea towel, a 16” square organic cotton hankie, a 10 yard skein “Stunning” Superwash Merino Wool yarn and swatches of Silk Charmeuse and Bamboo rayon. Preparing fiber for natural dyeing is significant, and has already been done for all these fibers. If you attended the Reds class, you are welcomed to bring things you dyed in that class to overdye in blue, which will result in purple!
Natural Dye: Yellows Workshop
Instructor: Cindy Vojnovic
Course Dates: Friday 9/18 (2pm - 5:30pm) & Saturday 9/19 (11am - 2pm). You must attend all dates listed.
Location: NCC East 40
3835 Green Pond Road
Bethlehem, PA 18020
Course Price: $67
Course Description: Goldenrod is a native plant that grows abundantly at the East 40, and the workshop will begin on Friday with sustainably harvesting goldenrod! Goldenrod yields a bright, often light yellow. Fabrics can be left in the dye pots overnight, to soak up the maximum amount of color. On Saturday, we will utilize several methods to deepen and or change the color obtained from the goldenrod alone. There will be a fresh goldenrod dye pot - “double dipping” is a good thing with natural dyes—to deepen the color, an onion skin dye pot, and the option of after-dye treatment with a water/vinegar bath that has been steeped in copper to shift the color.
Every participant will receive a “goody bag” with a yard of silk gauze, a 10 yard skein of “Stunning” superwash Merion Wool yarn, an organic cotton 27” square tea towel, an organic cotton 16” square hankie/bandana, a bamboo rayon 11” x 60” scarf, and sample/test swatches of the same bamboo rayon used in the scarf and silk charmeuse. All of these have been prepared by scouring and mordanting with natural materials, and so are ready to dye.
Community Education Workshop Offerings
East 40 has a history of offering a variety of non-credit classes through NCC's Community Ed program. Check the catalog for other options in gardening, cooking, baking, fermenting, pottery, and much else.
