Rigid Heddle Looms are known for their simplicity and portability. In this introductory workshop, students will learn the basics of weaving as well as several weaving techniques to achieve a variety of textures, looks and designs. Other skills learned will be:

* dressing a rigid heddle loom* preparing yarn for weaving* finishing techniques

The completed project will be a sampler showcasing the various techniques demonstrated which will give each weaver plenty of ideas and inspiration for their next project!

Go anywhere in the world and you will find some relationship between people and masks. What they represent depends on place, culture, intention, and the purpose behind its making. The weaver will determine for themselves what their mask is articulating in that moment. 

This is part 4 of a 4-part series that include projects from Susan Barrett Merrill’s The Art of Weaving a Life. Bradie is a Weaving a Life leader having studied with Susan back in 2017.

Weaving experience is not necessary to enjoy this workshop.

This will be a peaceful, powerful, and highly creative weekend workshop. 

Materials:

Looms, yarns, and other materials will be available for use in this class. If you have sticks, driftwood, yarns or other fibers you like, as well as other materials that speak to you and that you might want to consider as an adornment for your mask, please bring them along!

Saturday will be spent weaving your mask. 

Sunday will be spent shaping, adorning, and finishing your mask. 

Once a weaver has learned the basics in tapestry weaving, it’s a natural next step to learn how to apply them to designs. Project planning, yarn choice, technique application… all of this and more will be covered in this class.

Each week a different weaving topic will be covered, and each student will have the opportunity to explore their weaving plans with the instructor and their group. In addition, small projects will be suggested for students to practice techniques that will take their weaving to a new level.

This is a class that can be taken as many times as one wants, as new issues and questions arise with any tapestry project a weaver takes on. There is also great camaraderie that forms amongst weavers as we expand into this art form.

Pre-requisite: Introductory to Tapestry Weaving or commensurate experience.

Materials needed for this class:

Tapestry loom
Preferred warp yarn
Preferred weft yarn
Weaving tools

If you are building your supplies stash and would like some suggestions on what to purchase, please reach out to fiber@shelburnecraftschool.org

Borrowing from the studio is also an option depending on availability.

NOTE: For this semester, the group will meet every other week to allow time for weaving in between classes.

Wondering whether to use a huckaback pattern or an advancing twill pattern for that baby blanket?

Knowing how different weave structures affect the drape and feel of your fabric can help. In this short class, we’ll look at woven samples of different structures, learn to identify their basic weave structure, and see how the weave structure’s interlacement affects the fabric’s appearance and hand.

Students will learn the characteristics of 4 important weave structures (plain weave and its derivatives, twill weaves, compound weaves, and double weaves), how their drafts differ,  how to choose a structure that suits the aims of their project.

Tapestry weaving dates back thousands of years and is a woven art form that conjures many images in peoples’ minds. It is a medium that allows the weaver to create shape, design, texture and symbol using yarn. In this course, students will learn fundamental skills required for taking their tapestry weaving ideas to the next level.

We will use a simple frame loom that students will learn to warp themselves. Also covered are: weaving vocabulary, some tapestry yarns and tapestry weaving tools. Students will create samplers that will include most if not all of the following elements: horizontal and vertical lines, spots, and shapes like squares, rectangles and triangles, outlining, color gradations, and some finishing techniques.

This will be a hands-on class with a specific set of skills taught in each class that participants can experiment with and develop for the remainder of class.

Materials included, loom and tools available for use during course of class. 

Are you curious about weaving software and wonder if it would be worthwhile? 

This class is an opportunity to try one of the popular weaving software programs - Fiberworks PCW - and explore its basic features. Weaving software allows you to quickly create a drawdown of a pattern, explore color combinations, and modify a draft to suit your project. It’s an easy way to play with design options, and it offers convenient features that will tell you the maximum float length or how many heddles you’ll need on each shaft. The only problem with weaving software is that playing with design options can be as addictive as the actual weaving!

For this class, you will need to have a laptop with the software loaded on it. We  will use Fiberworks PCW for Mac. The free demo version is fine.  You will be able to do everything except save or print your files.  Either the Bronze or Silver version is fine. Silver has some extra features that are mainly useful if you have more than 8 shafts. 

See http://www.fiberworks-pcw.com/mac.html to download a copy of the software and for installation instructions.

Rigid Heddle Looms are known for their simplicity and portability. In this introductory workshop, students will learn the basics of weaving as well as several weaving techniques to achieve a variety of textures, looks and designs. Other skills learned will be:

* dressing a rigid heddle loom* preparing yarn for weaving* finishing techniques

The completed project will be a sampler showcasing the various techniques demonstrated which will give each weaver plenty of ideas and inspiration for their next project!

Backstrap weaving is one of the oldest textile-making traditions in the world. Backstrap looms were used by the ancient Maya and Aztec cultures, and the fact that their descendants still use these looms today speaks to their functionality and importance. For anyone with hands that know patience, both plain and complex cloth can be woven with the simplest of tools: just a few sticks, some string, a flat sword of wood and a band of cloth around your back by which you can provide tension to the warp.  

Backstrap weaving is not something to be mastered in just a few hours, but in 8 weeks of two-hour class sessions, we will gain familiarity and ease with weaving plain and patterned cloth in this time-honored and traditional way. 

You will learn how to wind a warp, preserve its cross and set it up on sticks for weaving either a balanced-weave cloth or a warp-faced weave. You will learn how to make and use continuous heddles, key to developing greater ease in weaving. Those who wish will learn how to warp and weave figures on a plain ground in a complementary warp technique called pebble weave. 

You will learn how to read pattern charts and an innovative method that will enable you to chart your own designs in this technique. Hopefully you will weave a sturdy backstrap for yourself that will serve you for many years to come as well as several other sample projects as you explore weaving backstrap style in this class.

You will be expected to work at home on your weaving each week as there will be no open studios for this class. All yarn is provided. Backstrap kits are included in the cost of the class.

No Class on November 24th