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Courses at texatelier 2026

INDIGO DYEING WITH SHIBORI, Clay and wax Resist

25 – 29 APRIL 2026 – BENFEITA PORTUGAL
Idigo & Shibori

This course is now fully booked

Make up a fructose indigo vat using the Michel Garcia 1,2,3, method and experience the magic of indigo, whilst watching your fabric turn through oxidation from yellow to green and finally blue. Explore resist patterns using Shibori techniques such as stitching, clamping, binding and wrapping to create your own individual and exquisite designs on fabric. Use stencils & hand painting with clay resist on cloth, & if time allows you will also use wax as a resist method to pattern your fabrics. You will dye your samples in the indigo vat & remove the resist to reveal the original cloth colour.

You can create lovely samples, scarves, garments or even fabric lengths in this extended workshop

This listing includes three workshops that are connected and best understood as a course that builds on each topic.

 The course fee is €240 per participant.

INDIGO & SHIBORI (Day 1)

12 JUNE 2026 BENFEITA PORTUGAL

6 places remain on this course

80 € per Person For the Day

Includes all basic materials and refreshments
Lunch is available on a donation basis

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

Natural DYEING WITH PLANT COLOUR (Day 2)

13 JUNE 2026 BENFEITA PORTUGAL
natural dyeing

6 places remain on this course

80 € per Person For the Day

Includes all basic materials and refreshments
Lunch is available on a donation basis

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.

BOTANICAL ECO PRINTING ON CLOTH & PAPER (Day 3)

14 JUNE 2026 BENFEITA PORTUGAL
leaves

6 places remain on this course

80 € per Person For the DAY

Includes all basic materials and refreshments
Lunch is available on a donation basis

Using flowers, leaves, berries, steam & a variety of mordants create truly wonderful, exquisite and remarkable images from foraged PLANTS.

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, but is not essential.

MIXED-MEDIA TEXTILE COLLAGE

16 – 18th OCTOBER 2026 – BENFEITA PORTUGAL

6 places remain on this course

80 € per Person

Includes all basic materials and refreshments
Lunch is available on a donation basis

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.

Questions & Answers

How much per day is a TEXATELIER course?

The current daily course fee is 80 Euros per person per day. This includes all basic materials and refreshments. It is also possible to purchase more specialist materials at cost price if desired.

There is an option of a vegetarian lunch for a small donation.

We offer a range of short and extended courses, with a minimum  number of two participants per day.

The largest group size  per day is six students.

Typically workshops are grouped and form a two or three day course. It is not usually essential to join all of the days.

The day starts at 10am and finishes around 4pm.

Courses are sometimes single techniques or more often a group of 3 different subjects, which enable people to enrol and participate for single days if needs be.

There needs to be a minimum of 2 students per day for a workshop to go ahead.

All the terms and conditions that apply to all things, including our courses, can be found on our shop site. Please use the following button to view them.

To reserve your place on a course use the contact us button. We will quickly respond and explain more about the course. You will be asked for a 25% deposit to confirm your place.

(please go to the T&C`s above, where payment details are fully described.)

Yes, Coja & the charming  white xisto village of Benfeita has all this. Please use the link to find out more here.