Virginie Lagerbe invites you to dive into the ancestral art of vegetable dyeing on textiles. You will learn how to create your own workshop and design color charts of natural shades from various textile samples, revealing the plant colors hidden in the plants around us, while respecting the environment.

At the end of the training, the trainee will be able to:

Create their own workshop of plant-based colors
Build a bank of dyes according to the seasons
Prepare different dye recipes that are easily reproducible and environmentally friendly
Make different shade variations from the same color bath to produce shades or changes in shades
Make dye mixtures
Create patterns from tannins

Explore and experiment, for five days, the fundamentals of natural dyeing using plant dyes present on the Campus MaNa estate, under the direction of Virginie Lagerbe, colorist-dyer. Passionate about the colorful essence of nature, Virginie creates unique sensory experiences using bio-sourced materials.

Day 1 / Morning and afternoon
Introduction to plant dyeing on textiles: setting up a personal workshop, creating a palette of natural dyes, ecological practices, acquiring a methodology and creating color charts from various textile samples.
Day 2 / Morning and afternoon
Dyeing techniques: learning environmentally friendly processes such as maceration, decoction and fermentation to extract pigments from surrounding plants.
Day 3/ Morning and afternoon
Exploration of plant dyes: discovery of color variations according to various parameters, revealing timeless and refined harmonies, applicable to architecture, scenography, decoration, design and graphics.
Day 5/ Morning and afternoon
Completion of work, restitution of creations and discussions around this week of training.

Virginie Lagerbe colorist-dyer and garden alchemist, trainer, speaker

After studying communication and political science, Virginie worked for a long time in the tourist development of her native region, Burgundy. When she began learning natural dyeing techniques out of simple curiosity in 2012, she discovered that plant dyes are everywhere around us, hidden in the roots, bark, wood, leaves or flowers of some very common plants that surround us.

Virginie then had only one desire: to discover the colorful soul hidden in her plant environment. The rendering on dyed fibers was "striking" in beauty, because natural dyes react differently depending on the nature of the fibers. This phenomenon reveals unsuspected, soothing and timeless harmonies that allow us to connect and resonate with the natural space that surrounds us by playing with them. Each plant essence offers a support of hues that scenography and design can enhance for a harmonious extension of the garden to the interiors.

Training: several training and advanced courses in plant dyeing (2012, 2013, 2017), with Magali Bontoux, trainer for Couleur Garance (Qualiopi certified)

Heritage Prize awarded by the Institut de France (2019) to the Royal Abbey of Chaalis (61) for the work carried out in 2018 in the Jardin d’enfance de Colette (Maison des Illustres) in Saint-Sauveur en Puisaye (89) and the innovative approach to gardens by Pérégreen.

Silver Ribbon Award awarded by the jury of the Fête des Plantes at the Domaine de Chantilly (2019)

Creation in 2019 of the textile color chart revealing the colorful soul of the park of the Château de Rosa Bonheur (Maison des Illustres).

Exhibition and installations for the Musée Victor Hugo in Villequier in 2020 (Maison des Illustres) (76), at the Abbey of Boscherville in 2020 (76), at the Château de Martainville in 2021 (76) on the occasion of the Bicentenary of the birth of Flaubert, at the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris in 2023 (75).

Exhibition curator (2022) for the exhibition dedicated to the Rouen botanist-dye maker Dambourney (1722-1795) proposed by the Abbey of Saint-Georges de Boscherville (76)

It is by using the surrounding flora that participants will be introduced to the gestures of these universal practices.

• Harvest of coloring materials available at the training location, color workshop, classroom, multipurpose room
• Materials provided
• Teaching distribution: 50% practice, 50% theoretical contributions
• Active participation and experimentation of participants are essential
• Practical exercises and written materials

• Collective and personalized monitoring of work, regular points
• Individual and collective work
• Workshop work
• Self-assessment (assessment of the acquisition of knowledge transmitted, questionnaire)
• Production and acquisition of theoretical and technical contributions
• Collective restitution: experience report at the end of the training (precision and clarity of the oral presentation)
• Sign-in sheet per half-day
• The training is validated by a Campus MaNa certificate.