This course aims to promote and preserve traditional Scottish textile techniques, connecting craft and creativity to enhance your wellbeing and empower you to take on your own ambitious textile projects. We work as socially and environmentally sustainably as possible, using only natural materials that have been foraged, home grown or sourced from local farms. Our mission is to make harmoniously with the land, learning patience, slowness and meditation through craft.

On the course you will learn to card and spin your own fleece and dye it using natural materials. We will experiment with knitting, both by hand and with a machine, helping you to develop motifs and designs. You’ll learn eco-dyeing and up-cycling techniques, be able to build a drop spindle and pin loom, and learn the basics of Taatit rug making, an ancient technique from Shetland.

Learn traditional Scottish textiles techniques; from carding, spinning and dyeing your own yarn, to knitting, embroidery and building your own weaving loom.

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  • Card, spin and dye your own yarns

  • Learn how to knit and make samples

  • Forage for dye plants

  • Experiment with natural dyes

  • Experiment with eco-dyes

  • Make your own pin loom

  • Learn Taatit embroidery

Your Tutors

Our dedication to hand craft is at the heart of everything we do. With over 25 years of teaching experience between us, we are delighted to offer our traditional textiles techniques course, where we can share the knowledge and inspiration we have gained in our exploration into the world of Scottish textiles.

As Mother and Daughter from a family with a long textiles history, we have a special interest in the passing on and preservation of inter-generational knowledge.


  • Spinner, Dyer and Knitter

    Julie is a self taught craftsperson who has been experimenting with yarns for the last 15 years. Through endless testing and experimentation she has built up an incredible knowledge of the processes involved in spinning, knitting and naturally dyeing, developing her own recognisable aesthetic. Working solely with sustainably and locally sourced yarns, and dyeing from her home grown dye plants, Julie’s commitment to sustainable practice and artisanship is unwavering.

  • Designer, Weaver and Taatit Embroiderer

    Dawn combines her background in fashion design and arts education with a deep love for handcraft. As a textile artist, she works in collaboration with Julie Kelso to create works which explore the relationship between craft, creativity and wellbeing. Dawn has a breadth of knowledge into traditional textile practices, having lived and worked in fair trade weaving villages in Bangladesh, and developed her practice on residencies in Shetland’s Fair Isle.

  • No experience is necessary.

    We can work flexibly with you depending on your level of experience and your aims for the course. We will meet you where you are and go from there.

  • We will supply the basics like fleece, dyeing equipment/materials and knitting needles. Other materials may need to be sourced by you for the course, but you will be made aware of this in advance and support will be given where necessary.

  • It’s up to you! You will be introduced to the basics and some experimental techniques. We will help you to develop your favourite approaches into a final piece, but it is up to you what that becomes!

  • In our studio space in Glasgow.

We are so inspired by the various stages of craft that are covered on this course, and we hope you will join us to learn them.

If you are interested by the content of the course, please get in touch to discuss your budget, access requirements and dates. We would love to hear from you!

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