Three Day * - One Day

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

W-302 Handwoven Clothing 101 - Make a Simple Unstructured Jacket from your Handwoven Fabric  * Daryl Lancaster

A terrific class for those who consider themselves "sewing challenged". Too many scarves, throws, and placemats cluttering your house? Weave fabric for clothing! This simple unstructured jacket is custom fit, guaranteed to look great, feel good, and teach you the basics of sewing handwoven fabric. Students can expect to gain confidence in their garment construction skills no matter what level and will learn to work with their handwoven fabric. My goal is to have participants look at sewing as a creative process by itself instead of an annoying necessity in order to achieve a wearable garment. Skills are taught using samples, handouts, storyboards, and demonstrations.

Level: This class is designed to teach the basics of sewing to handweavers.

Materials Fee: $25.00 includes shoulders pads, twill tape, interfacing, pattern paper, and handouts.

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W-304 Multiple Warp Weaving * Sheila O’Hara

Now is your chance to get hands on weaving experience in the unique weave structure that Sheila O'Hara has been developing since 1976. Students will learn an 8-harness version of multiple warp weaving on table looms which they will bring pre-warped to the class. Drafting for both 8- and 16-shaft versions will be covered in the class. This reversible, two sided fabric can be used for wall pieces and functional items. The class will be both informative and entertaining. Students will gain an understanding of multiple warp weaving, be inspired to make warps with more than three colors, dare to alter drafts to create new weave structures, and have fun laughing at weaving jokes. Day 1 will include a slide lecture and cover drafting for 16 & 8 shafts. Day 2 we will weave color stripes, squares, circles. Day 3 we will weave original designs and hear a short slide lecture.

Level: Intermediate and Advanced.

Materials fee: $5 fee for handouts

Equipment: Students must bring an 8 shaft table loom – Do not bring a floor loom - pre-warped as per instructions to be sent to students before the class.

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W-305 Japanese Braiding on the Marudai and Takadai Mixed * Rodrick Owen  (Full)

The workshop will accommodate braiders who want to expand their knowledge of braiding on either the marudai or takadai. It is about flexibility and as far as possible will be tailored to meet the needs of each student. Those with specific projects in mind may contact the instructor prior to the conference. The Marudai is a versatile braiding stand that can be used to make braids that are round, square, hollow, triangular and flat, even changing from one shape or pattern to anotherwhile they are being made. The braids can be used in many ways for personal adornment as sashes or belts and for jewelry. They make good piping for clothes, upholstery, and cushions and can be used as curtain tiebacks. Embroiderers use them as do book binders for their intricate work. The Takadai is a unique piece of equipment for making braids in plain or twill weave structures. Tahe braids are single or double layered, and can be made in three dimensional or complex pick-up patterns. The Japanese make these flat interlaced braids to be used as obijima for the kimono. The single layer braids are thinner, wider and because they are made on the bias more flexible than the marudai braids. The braids can be made for trim and edge decoration on garments, as ties, and sashes. It is possible to make the braids wide enough to be used as scarves and panels for clothing. Double braids are more durable for belts and guitar straps and the pick-up braids to express your individual patterns.

Equipment: Marudai or takadai. If a student needs to rent equipment please note that at the bottom of your registration form.  (click here for materials/equipment)

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W-306 Historic Coverlets, American Textile Traditions and Their Makers * Sigrid Piroch

Love old coverlets and coverlet patterns? Like to weave a coverlet or early American textile? This is your chance to become acquainted with Americana at its best. Slide view the intriguing story behind some of their makers, weave various structures on looms in traditional and modern ways, use profiles to document them, read century drafts, analyze actual coverlets, reference rare manuscripts, consider finishing and conservation techniques. This is a fun workshop with a lot of grist: pattern documentation, weave identification, fabric analysis, pattern manipulation and draft development including reading old drafts and working with profiles. Students learn to identify patterns and modify them according to their interests or, using these concepts as inspiration, create their own designs on 4-8 shafts (though we're ready for more shafts). You leave armed with a set of textile samples you have woven, which are representative of a wide variety of structures for textiles, including coverlets, over the past several centuries. Each loom represents one historic structure.

Level:Intermediate

Materials fee: $8.50 includes wire-bound Workshop Booklets configured for our conference with color - include all workshop looms, work session sheets, bibs, resources = over 40 pp.

Equipment: Loom warped using instructions sent by the instructor.

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W-309 Beginning Tapestry Techniques * Rebecca Smith

This workshop is suitable for beginning tapestry weavers as well as others who want to review the basics of tapestry weaving. Students will be provided with pipe looms to use during the workshop and to purchase if they wish. Day 1 we will learn the basics of weaving shapes, including vertical and diagonal lines, curves and circles. The focus will be on learning to manipulate the weft by hand, achieve a smooth surface and control draw-in. Day 2 we will work on hachure and color blending and discuss tapestry design. Each student will create a cartoon for a small tapestry. Day 3 students will complete their small tapestries, interspersed with a discussion of tapestry tools, looms, yarns, and resources for purchasing these.

Level: Beginning

Materials fee: $10.00

W-310 Pictorial Tapestry Workshop--The Value of Value * Sarah Swett (FULL)

Tapestry is a glorious, ancient and yet utterly contemporary way to weave images in wool. But how, we often wonder, do those images come alive? What gives objects the appearance of volume when they are woven of wool on a flat warp? Using the magical properties of light, and the ever practical value study, each participant in this workshop will explore this question and begin to train her mind, eyes and hands to see, understand and then weave things in all of their three dimensional glory. We will spend time with cartoon design and the process of translating these designs into tapestry -- exploring what works, what doesn't, and why. During the workshop each person will begin to weave a small, two sided tapestry based on their own or one of my cartoons. This is very much a hands-on workshop but there will be time for discussion and an emphasis on sharing ideas, which will result in the creation of distinctly individual work.

Level: Intermediate (or enthusiastic beginner)

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Materials Fee: $25

Equipment: Instructor will provide looms (unless students already have a “Brennan-style” copper or PVC frame loom) and warp and weft materials

 

One Day Workshops

WW-107 Drum Carding and Multicolored Batts  * Deb Menz

Learn to create predictable multicolored batts for unique handspun yarns. The day starts with a drum carding 101 discussion, followed by a demonstration of the different techniques used to create repeatable batts for bright and clear multi-colored yarns. The rest of the day is devoted to hands-on. There will be time to complete preparation for several different skeins of yarn.

Level: Anyone who can spin

Materials fee: $15

Equipment: Students should bring a drum carder and wheel or spindle.

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WW-109 Drop Spindle or Spindling * Margaret Tyler (moving to Thursday)

"Spindling" - spinning with a spindle rather than wheel - is a great low-tech way to experience the many charms of creating your own special handspun yarn. This course will provide an introduction to basic spinning techniques, a sampling of the many fibers available to modern spinners and the hands-on experience needed to start making wonderful yarns for weaving, knitting, crocheting, etc. Bring along a few beads, bells, and treasures to decorate your yarn to make a bracelet-style wrist distaff to hold your fibers while you spin.

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WT-114 Multi-Colors with Combs or Hackles  * Deb Menz

Learn to create color blended and combed multicolored fiber preparations on hand held combs and hackles. The talk begins with differences in different combs and demonstrates how to use hand held combs and proceeds to thorough color blending on combs. There will be a demonstration on using the hackle for color placement and how to pull the fibers off of the hackle. The rest of the day will be hands-on creating fiber preparations shown in the demonstrations.

Materials fee: $15

Level: Anyone who can spin

Equipment: Hand-held combs and a hackle if you have one. A spindle or wheel would be great.

Friday

WF-120 Ikat on the Inkle Loom  * Shirley Berlin

The serious study of ikat shows the subject to be a complex and absorbing one. This workshop isn't about that. We're going to make a design-as-you-go ikat band in a few hours, using microwave dyeing. The possibilities are endless but this "just get on with it" approach will get you started. Fast workers will make an inkle ikat belt during the class. You must, must, must know how to warp the loom you bring. The loom must, must, must have heddles that fit.

Level: Students must know how to warp the inkle loom that they bring to class

Materials fee: $5 includes dyes, yarns, and handout

Equipment: inkle loom and knowledge of how to use it with approximately 30 heddles that fit.

 

WF-126 Simple Plying for Color Effects  * Deb Menz

This workshop is a combination of lecture, demonstration and hands-on. Plying and color choice can be the whole design focus in a yarn. The possibilities are many. The workshop will explore and explain how and why colors do what they do when you ply them together. You will not think about just plying a yarn on itself again, but will think of all the other ways the colors can be combined more excitingly. Color theory, as it applies to plying, will be discussed. The exercises will be limited to 2- and 3-ply yarns. Student can bring a range of multicolored yarns already spun, but not set.

Level : Anyone who can spin.

Materials fee : $ 20 for fibers used for spinning.

Equipment: Students should bring spinning wheel, extra bobbins, lazy kate, ball winder.

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WF-128 Ikat & Embellishment: Weft-Face Design Techniques for Tapestries & Rugs!
  * Mary Zicafoose

This one-day studio workshop demonstrates the precise and sequential steps required for creating weft-face Ikat tapestries and rugs. Students learn to measure, stretch, wrap, unwrap, and weave wool Ikat weft. While technically challenging, the results are dramatic and inspire many creative possibilities. This weft-oriented process for rugs is rarely explored.

Materials fee: $10 includes workshop folder and all hands-on materials.

Workshop Summary