Kathleen O’Grady

Kathleen O’Grady is designer and creative director of Kathleen O’Grady Design. Based in Saskatoon, Kathleen has more than four decades of experience in fashion and textiles, creating small, limited collections of garments and unique pieces using speciality fabrics.

Kathleen emphasizes quality craftsmanship, with careful attention to detail at every stage of the design and construction process. For her naturally dyed scarves and bandanas, she uses traditional dyeing methods, preparing and dyeing small batches. Her work also includes screen printing and block printing.

Kathleen received training in fashion and surface design at Vancouver Community College, Capilano Community College, the University of Washington, Pratt Fine Arts Center and the University of Oregon. She trained in natural dye techniques at workshops led by world-renowned instructors in Vientiane, Laos; Oakland, California; Seattle, Washington; Eugene, Oregon and Vancouver, Canada.

Kathleen’s extensive travels in Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan, India and Africa have influenced her designs and given her an appreciation of textile traditions from around the world.

Her work Perseverance was featured in Saskatchewan Craft Council’s From Scratch exhibition in 2020. The work incorporated scraps from the cutting room floor, given new life as they were transformed “from scratch” into a wearable statement piece. In the making of this work, Kathleen pursued a long-time calling to deepen her work in textile surface design using printing, applique, and Japanese hand stitching (sashiko) with natural dyes.