Class Title: Create Natural Dye from Sea Urchins
Instructor: Margaret Seelie
Tuition: $125/Members – $145/Non-Members
Class Dates: Saturday,May 24, 2025
Times: 12:00 noon – 4:30 pm
Place: Pacific Textile Arts classroom
Number of Students: Minimum: 6 Max:15
Materials fee: $25, pay directly to the teacher
Class Description: Purple sea urchins have eaten 95% of the kelp forests along the California coast. In this workshop, we’ll explore one solution to the urchin problem by creating a soft peachy dye from their spines. Then we’ll go meet this incredible creatures in the wild on a tide pool tour with local intertidal expert Sue Coulter. Last, you’ll learn how to urchin-dye silk and wool items to take home.
Materials fee includes:
Ingredients for a 1/2 gallon sea urchin dye bath
1 silk pillowcase, 14″
2 silk squares
1 wool scarf 8″ x 54″
List of items students need to bring: Appropriate clothing for dyeing and wandering around tide pools. Bring a towel and a bag lunch.
BIO: Margaret Seelie is a natural dyer and textile artist based in San Francisco. Her work is about elevating alchemy in a digital and detached world and climate justice by way of Indigenous knowledge.
She is the founder of Seelie Studio, a natural dye company, and the zine Seawitches. She has a BA in art and design from DePaul University and an MFA in writing from Mills College. Her artwork has been showcased in various solo and group exhibitions in California since 2022. She has taught natural dye workshops since 2012 for clients like San Francisco Public Libraries, Bodega Marine Lab, The Sea Ranch, and more.
Questions: Email classes@pacifictextilearts.org