The Textile Garden at Mobile Garden
Yodomo partnered with Indigo Works, Fantasy Fibre Mill and Our Parklife CIC to launch a new textile garden at Mobile Garden in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Together, the four organisations created a demonstrator textile garden and a participatory workshop programme that highlights the often-overlooked connection between textiles and plants.
The Textile Garden is a living showcase of plants used in textile production, featuring flax for linen and a range of dye plants including indigo, woad, coreopsis, weld, calendula, madder, goldenrod and hollyhock. A series of hands-on workshops demonstrates traditional textile techniques, including:
- Dyeing with indigo and other natural dye plants
- Printing with indigo pigment
- Fresh leaf dyeing
- Hand processing flax into linen
Textile waste is a significant contributor to global pollution, driven largely by the disconnection between consumers and the textile manufacturing process. The Textile Garden bridged this gap by supporting a deeper understanding of the relationship between textiles and nature, reintroducing people to the plants behind the fabrics they wear and promoting more sustainable, regenerative practices.
The project was designed to engage a broad range of people, including local community members and gardening groups, artisans working with sustainable and natural fibres and dyes, members of the public interested in natural fibre production or sustainable fashion, and researchers and students from local universities studying natural dyes.
The programme launched with three free participatory workshops, supported and funded by the London Legacy Development Corporation, including a Hapa Zome workshop led by natural dye educator Stephanie Steele, where participants foraged for plants on-site to print natural dye designs onto textiles directly at the Garden, and a flax weaving workshop with Fantasy Fibre Flax.
The project was launched 01 August 2024 and continues with volunteers from Hackney Bridge.