Shelburne Craft School

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