About me
wonder ~ connection ~ gratitude
I am a natural dyer and sustainable textiles artisan inspired by a deep connection to plants, trees, natural colour and seasonal living. Co- creating with nature, I intuitively slow craft textiles that celebrate nature's generosity of materials, centering the colours and energies of dye plants and natural fibres. My natural dye practice is evolving to work in reciprocity and reverence to our plant kin. Honouring the plants and reflecting their medicine, which when transformed into fibre offers inspiration and comfort.
An experienced workshop leader, project facilitator & speaker, I host textile offerings and community events sharing my passion for natural colour, earth kind textile practices and traditional fibre processes.
I live with my family in Hampshire, growing food, and flax for fibre on my allotment, and herbs, and dye plants in my garden. I teach regular sewing, natural dyes and textile crafts classes across the region, and love to collaborate with other artists and groups on community and private projects.
My textile journey so far…
Ginny, age 17, wearing a top I made with indigo/rust & tannic acid with a wax resist print design
Surrounded by family who made and mended, I grew up knowing the power and importance of creating with our hands. Using the family hand crank singer sewing machine at a young age, I made clothes for my Pippa dolls and then at 16, I began tie dyeing old sheets and sewing wrap skirts to wear to college. I studied Dressmaking at school and printed textiles at college and after my art foundation was lucky to be accepted to study theatrical costume at Wimbledon School of art in the late 1980’s. Creating costumes gifted me with the skills to tackle all sorts of projects and experience using a variety of different materials and processes. I was particularly drawn to dyeing fabrics, but at this stage apart from taking indigo dye and print classes at 16 with local artist Linda Brassington, I had only ever used synthetic dyes.
Learning my craft post college I enjoyed a career making costumes for dance and theatre, and then took on costume supervision roles which I loved. Though the work was full on with long hours, being part of a community all working towards the end performance gave me a real buzz.
After a 5 year role running the costume department for a performing arts degree, I had my first child and moved from London back to Hampshire not far from where I grew up. This began a new chapter when I hooked up with my old school friend Alice Butcher. Together we had fabrics from our creative careers, not much money and 2 young children a piece. Armed with library books and sketch pads we met over pizza and planned what we would make.
Our first fair was Farnham Maltings Christmas Fair in 2001, and our second fair was Country Living Spring Fair in 2002. We made home-style gifts; cushions, height charts, bags, dolls and heirloom wall hangings and stockings, all from recycled, vintage and ex-mill fabrics. We designed everything from scratch and each make was unique due to the nature of using reclaimed fabrics. Much of our work used applique, patchwork and simple embroidery. We loved our work, and balanced it with childcare, often making while our children napped or were at play school. We sourced fabrics from car boot sales and charity shops and reused all that we could, being earth kind and continuing this resourceful practice of our ancestors.
At this time I was growing more herbs and food and trying to be mindful to live as lightly as I could on the earth. This passion and care for our environment became a guiding principle.
At the tail end of making to sell, Alice and I were approached by the publisher David and Charles, and with them, wrote three sewing/craft books, Sew Fabulous Fabric 2008, Home Sweet Sewn 2009 and Sewing for Kids 2013. Teaching opportunities followed and our first ‘Kick Start to Sewing ‘ class began at the West End Centre in Aldershot in 2018. Teaching sewing skills is still a huge passion of mine. These skills empower us to look after our textiles, mend and make, and be more self sufficient. Alice and I taught at many different venues and events over the following years, both sewing and craft projects and still teach regular sewing classes together in Hampshire and Surrey under our ‘Alice and Ginny ‘ banner.
Alongside teaching, my passion for sustainable textiles led me to being a member of the steering group who set up and launched Farnham Repair cafe in February of 2015. Later that year I ran a series of workshops for Hampshire county council and developed a textile repair tool kit for the county’s recycling centres. This drive to be useful within community and to use my skills to support others continues into other projects and sharing skills is one of the things that continues to bring me great satisfaction.
My journey to becoming a natural dyer began with awareness as a child. My mother’s extended college study on natural dyeing and her love of nature introduced me to plants, potions and steeping dye pots. I began researching and growing my own plants some years before I eventually took to my own dye pot. It was for an exhibition in 2016 to celebrate our local food cooperative that led me to create my first natural indigo vat for blues. I over-dyed these with Weld (yellow) to create greens for the fabrics for an applique dress inspired by the growing cycle. I also used onion skins from my veg share and tea leaves from the kitchen cupboard. I then took many courses, both online and in-person. My first class was the online immersion with Justine at the Wild Dyery in 2017. This introduced dye extracts and gave a brilliant foundation to good practice. Justine also taught me eco-printing and printing with natural dye and mordant pastes. So with fire in my belly to learn more about using foraged and grown dyes I attended both the Madder and Woad days with Debbie Barker in East Sussex. My learning still continues and I am grateful to all my teachers. I learned a variety of print approaches through classes with Sarah Burns, Ceres Studio and Jacqui Simmons, and inks and indigo through classes with Britt Bowles, and Flora from Plants and Colour.
In 2022 after a major illness, I was thrilled to be accepted onto the prestigious 6 month Natural dye course at Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft led by British dye expert Jenny Dean and supported by artist Ross Belton. As well as a being therapeutic for my recovery, this amazing course deepened my skills and practice, and although I had taught a few natural dye classes before attending the course, now, with a greater understanding, I felt confident to add to these offerings and to share this beautiful craft more widely. I am now delighted to be amongst many fabulous creatives as a Ditchling Dyer Alumni, including Sam Jones, who I have have been co-teaching with for the past few years and Ali Rabjohns with whom I have co-created a beautiful soulful textile shamanic offering for 2026.
As my personal creative practice was evolving over the past 10 years I rediscovered the beautiful heritage crafts of cordage, spinning and weaving. First through natural dyes and then as I began to think about the actual fibres involved in creating fabrics. Following this thread back in time has deepened my understanding of materials and processes. I’ve grown flax for fibre on my allotment since 2019 and many dye plants. I have learned about flax processing with Justine’s Growing slow Textiles community and then locally with the Let’s Grow Flax community project, which I am proud to have set up in 2023 with weaver Brigitte Kaltenbaher. Spinning has become a mediation and as well as flax I continue to explore wool and other fibres. Bringing threads into woven form is the most recent aspect of the journey back to whole cloth. My practice is very much process led, aligned with natural materials and natures rhythms. I enjoy sharing the beauty of these slow crafts at workshops and events across Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex.
