Textile Art Courses
Texatelier, the fun, friendly, professional place for textile art courses for all ages and abilities. Our courses will suit people who want make work to sell, to create fabrics and papers for use in craft projects & to develop ideas for further work at their own pace.
We aim to work in a sustainable way, reusing & upcycling.
Texatelier runs courses in our studios in Central Portugal, and occasionally at various locations in S.W. France & the U.K.
This year we are 18 years old and have run more than 90 successful projects with students from all over the world!
Below is an outline of some of our workshop subjects & what they may involve.
Indigo & Shibori
Shibori is the term for a Japanese resist dye technique.
Learn how to make up a fructose indigo vat using the1/2/3 Michel Garcia method and you will experience the magic of indigo, watching your fabric turn through oxidation from yellow to green and finally blue. Explore resist patterns with shibori techniques such as stitching, clamping, binding and wrapping to create your own individual and exquisite designs on fabric. You will then dye them in the indigo vat. You will leave with a range of beautiful samples, and possibly a scarf, garment or fabric length that you have created
PLAYING WITH NATURE’S COLOURS, NATURAL DYEING WITH PLANT COLOUR
Explore the colouration of cloth and fibres using natural dyes derived from organic plant matter. Learn about mordants & modifiers & how to make them at home, make up dye baths using a range of colours from nature to create beautifully coloured fabrics and yarns. It can be possible to obtain around 15 different glorious colours from the 4/5 dye baths made up during the course depending on which mordant is used.
You will leave with a range of beautiful samples, a recipe book and perhaps a scarf, garment or fabric length that you have dyed.
This course is usually held over 2 days and will tie in well with the indigo and shibori resist, botanical eco printing and rust, tannins and oxides workshop.
Using flowers, leaves, berries, steam & mordants create truly wonderful and remarkable images from foraged flowers, leaves and berries.
BOTANICAL ECO PRINTING ON CLOTH & PAPER
Using flowers, leaves, berries, steam & a variety of mordants create truly wonderful, exquisite and remarkable images from foraged flowers, leaves and berries.
You will leave with a range of beautiful cloth and paper samples, and possibly a scarf, garment or fabric length that you have dyed
This course will be more cohesive if taken in conjunction with the natural dyeing workshop.
EXPERIMENTAL DYEING WITH RUST, OXIDES, TANNINS & INDIGO
Create your own collection of unusual and intriguing fabrics and papers using rusty objects. The imprint of the chosen objects will leave their marks on your pieces in incredible colours and tones of terracotta, umbers and deep blues & when combined with dyeing in indigo you can create mysterious, layered pieces with a beautiful depth of hues.
You will leave with a range of beautiful samples, and possibly a scarf, garment or fabric length that you have dyed.
This workshop will tie in well with indigo and shibori resist, natural dyeing and botanical eco printing.
Print & Paint on Cloth & Paper
Explore and experiment with a variety of ways with printing and painting on cloth and paper using unusual and interesting methods to create your own unique patterns. Make your own simple printing blocks to create different marks and repeat patterns and use stencils to build up surfaces and layers.
On this workshop you could create your own personalised printed/painted greetings cards, gift wrap, fabrics for interiors, a scarf or garment.
Consider combining this course with the mixed media textile collage workshop.
Fabric Collage with Stitch & Photo Transfer
Combine machine and hand embroidery with collage to create visual stories using old memorabilia and saved special fabrics. Learn techniques such as how to use bondaweb and photo transfer. You will be encouraged to explore composition and layering to create a finished piece/s that celebrates a significant event or person.
MIXED MEDIA TEXTILE COLLAGE
You will be guided by Nikola to create a collection of papers and fabrics with which to make your collage works.
You will create your own handmade print blocks and stencils, using unusual printing and painting techniques, on a variety of fabrics and papers.
Using glue and stitch you will discover the joy of working with the process of collage and create beautiful artworks, cloth and cards with your ‘stash’ of papers and fabrics.
This course also involves basic colour theory, and is usually a 3 day workshop.
This could work well with the paint and print workshop if you want to create something ambitious, such as fabrics for interiors.
Our Success Stories
We take pride in collaborating with a diverse range of students, from all over the world – France, Portugal, USA & Canada, UK and all over Europe.
Nikola is an excellent teacher and textile artist. I had the pleasure of attending a tailor-made 3 day textile workshop in the summer, in her sunny, open-concept workshop. She was able to put together a program specific to my needs and time constraints. In 3 days we were able to cover batik, block printing, and shibori using indigo dyes. Nikki is someone who is very personable, passionate and talented. I learned a lot, was well taken care of, and we had tonnes of fun together. She is fantastic! For anyone who is into textiles, go take a vacation in Portugal and get your creativity flowing!
Misun Daty
Roen, France
Nikola’s course was exceptionally well prepared and organised – having thought of all things in advance the course was well presented and differentiated to each individual’s needs encouraging both risk taking and creativity.
Carol Ann Eades
Isle of Wight, UK