Making Silk Flowers with Anne Tomlin

Location: 86 Margaret Street, London W1W 8TE

Duration: Taught over two day sessions 

Anne Tomlin is a renowned silk flower-making specialist, making flowers from silk, millinery materials and paper clay. This two-day workshop will introduce you to the craft, and you will learn some of the techniques, including stiffening silk, bonding layers, hiding wires, blending and layering of dyes to create a natural effect. Anne will demonstrate how to use heated flower tools, both the French tools and the Japanese somebana tools, for mark-making and shaping to bring a flat piece of fabric to life magically.

Anne will show you some of her processes, tips and tricks that you can explore to make realistic botanicals she has perfected from over 30 years of practice, combining traditional techniques with her methods of making. She will discuss her observations of nature and explain how she achieves immaculate detail and finish to make exquisite realistic flowers. Anne has a lifelong passion for capturing the detail and essence of flowers. In this workshop, you will learn about observation, how to look more closely at flowers and think about how to interpret their detail, increasing our creative connection to nature.

Anne will bring samples of her work to inspire you and you will make a few spring flowers using techniques you can apply to many other flowers.

Everything you need for this course will be provided for you as part of your course experience. Your kits will be provided by Anne Tomlin and will contain the following:

Prepared pieces of stiffened silk
Flower wires
Pack of stamens
Paper clay
Silk Floss thread
Templates
Frixion pen

Tutor Profile

Anne has a first-class degree in Textiles from UCA Farnham. She then studied Millinery at The London College of Fashion. After making hats for many of the world's prestigious stores, including Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Liberty, and Saks 5th Ave, she moved to West Sussex with her husband and dogs. She now makes bespoke flowers to order, working with milliner Jane Taylor and artist Yinka Shonibare, running short courses at West Dean College and continuing her quest to raise awareness of the natural world in her complex detailed studies of flowers and conservation of wild meadows, so evident in her work.

Her first book, Making Silk Flowers, will be published in November 2023.

Location

You can find us at 86 Margaret Street, London W1W 8TE

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Accessibility

Our in person classes are taught in our school which is located upstairs in our studio. Unfortunately the building does not have lift access, so use of the stairs would be necessary.

Testimonials

If you would like to hear from some of our past students you can read our testimonials here.

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