During this workshop, you will learn about the steps involved in making your own textile from the cattail plant. You will be introduced to the cattail, a plant you probably recognize by its distinctive brown flower spikes growing along the edges of ditches and ponds. You will learn about the characteristics of the plant, how it can be used, and why it differs from other textile plants that have been used for centuries.

Next, you will extract the fibers from the plant’s leaves and spin them into yarn. At the end of the workshop, you will take home a small piece of cattail yarn that you have made yourself.

For centuries, textiles have been made from plants. It is a fascinating process in which we often know the final product but no longer understand how it is made or what the plant itself looks like. Textile making is one of humanity’s oldest crafts, older than pottery or metalworking. Through industrialization, globalization, and fast fashion with synthetic fabrics, the craft of making textiles from plants in our own environment has moved into unseen factories. It is time to bring that knowledge back.

Iris Veentjer is the owner of Studio i Focus, a design studio specializing in innovative material research and experimental design. She works on freelance projects for a variety of companies and organizations while also developing self-initiated projects such as Bakkie Trots and RietGoed. Through these projects, Iris hopes not only to create beautiful products but also to contribute to the social conversation around sustainability, climate change, social awareness, and regenerative practices.

With the RietGoed project, she researches and develops the possibility of making textiles from the cattail plant. This innovative process contributes to natural soil restoration, helps prevent land subsidence, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions from peat meadow areas. In this way, textile production can contribute to making Dutch soils more resilient for the future.

This workshop is organized in collaboration with Voedselmoeras, where Iris harvests her own cattail plants.