WORKSHOPS

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• Growing Your Dye Garden

  • When
    27 Apr 2019
  •  
    9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    13

  Register

  In this class, we will focus on the planning and planting of a backyard dye garden. We will focus on the plants that grow easily in our region, their care and harvesting methods, among many other growing specific details. This is an informative class, with little hands on content. This class is not a how to dye class. Seed and plant sourcing will be shared with the class.

  Level:  All levels
  

  Materials Fee: $0

  Registration: Members $50, Non-members $60

  Instructor:  Melanie Wilder
  

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• Making Paper & Books with Plants of Appalachia

  • Start
    01 May 2019
  •  
  • End
    08 May 2019
  •  
  • Schedule
    2 sessions
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    6

  Register

  Process, community and collaboration will be the themes of this 2 part workshop. Starting with raw materials, we will transform plants into sheets of paper and bind them into handmade books. In the first session, we will learn the details of harvesting, cooking, and blending plant fibers into a workable pulp. Get hands-on in the vats of pulp to collectively pull sheets of paper from 3 common plant species. Working together, the group will produce shared stacks of paper for bookbinding. In session two, we will transform the handmade paper to create a series of hand stitched pamphlet books that can used for drawing and journaling, or as a reference for future paper making explorations. Participants will work together to create one-of-a-kind pieces. Everyone will take home at least 2 books, reference handouts, and the skills to make plant based paper and pamphlet books on their own.

  Level: Beginning
  

  Materials Fee:  $20 for paper pulp from local plants, abaca and cotton, needle, thread, additional paper vats, felts, mould and deckles

  Registration: Members $100, Non-members $120

  Instructor:  Alyssa Sacora
  

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• Beginning Spinning

  • When
    04 May 2019
  •  
    1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    3

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  Curious about spinning? This class is designed for the new spinner, or someone who needs a refresher on the basics. Learn about the workings of a spinning wheel and tools like the niddy noddy and lazy kate. Practice the motions of drafting (pulling) fiber and spinning it into yarn. Plying and finishing yarn will also be covered, if there is time. You'll leave this class with a skein of yarn from what you've spun. All tools provided, or bring your own wheel if you have one.

  
  Level: Beginner
  Materials Fee: $10 for fiber and use of spinning wheels
  

  Registration: Members $50, Non-members $60

  Instructor: Lorri Helms
  

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• Polymer Canes for Buttons and Shawl Pins

  • When
    05 May 2019
  •  
    10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    7

  Register

  Class will cover polymer basics in the creation of millefiori canes. Leaf/flower design. Colors as desired. Finished work is a large button, brooch, or shawl pin.

  Level: Beginning

  Materials fee: $15 for tools, colors, oven, work surface

  Instructor: Barbara McGuire

  Registration: Members $100, Non-members $120

  
  

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• Weaving 101

  • Start
    09 May 2019
  •  
  • End
    30 May 2019
  •  
  • Schedule
    4 sessions
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    6

  Register

  In this intimate workshop you will learn the basics of using a loom and weaving cloth over the course of 4 Thursday evenings. Class 1 will focus on learning the parts of a loom and preparing it to weave (called dressing the loom). In class 2 we will begin the process of weaving! What is a shed? Shuttles and bobbins? The selvage? All this and more will be discussed. Class 3 is expanding our understanding of basic weaving structures- we will move beyond plain weave into twills, supplemental wefts, tapestry techniques, and experimental materials. The final class will offer time to finish as much as we can of our warps, cut the weaving from the loom, and develop various methods of “finishing the ends.” Intended to reveal the magic and complexity of weaving, this course will be process focused and collaborative in approach.
  

  Level: Beginning
  

  Materials fee: $40 for Loom rental, all weaving tools, yarn, handouts, books for inspiration

  Registration: Members $200, Non-members $240

  Instructor: Danielle Burke
  

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• One Day Rigid Heddle!

  • When
    11 May 2019
  •  
    10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    5

  Register

  Learn to direct warp your rigid heddle loom and get weaving in one day! We will be focused on learning the direct warping method for rigid heddle, threading and basic beginning weaving techniques. You will leave with a warped loom, ready for weaving!
  Note: You will need to bring a rigid heddle loom to participate in this workshop. If you do not have one, but would like to rent , please contact the instructor.

  Level: All levels welcome
  

  Materials Fee: $25 for yarn
  

  Registration: Members $100, Non-members $120

  Instructor: Deanna Lynch
  

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• The Care & Feeding of an Indigo Vat

  • When
    18 May 2019
  •  
    1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    14

  Register

  

  This class assumes you already know how to create an indigo vat. We will discuss how to revive and replenish existing natural and synthetic indigo vats, with demonstrations using natural indigo thiox and fructose vats. Because we will have working vats, participants may bring something small ready to dye.

  Level:  Intermediate
  

  Materials Fee:  $5 for Indigo & assists, handout

  Registration: Members $50, Non-members $60

  Instructor:  Eileen Hallman
  

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• Use Your Scraps To Make Beautiful Bags

  • When
    19 May 2019
  •  
    10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    9

  Register

  Put your scraps to good use. Make functional pieces of small art out of your handmade fabric. We will investigate easy techniques to make unique bags. We will also make a key fob to make your keys easy to find.
  

  Level: Beginning

  Materials Fee: $10 for Downloadable directions, key fob metal components, magnetic snaps, interfacing

  Registration: Members $100, Non-members $120

  Instructor: Joan Berner

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• Scour Wool Like a Boss

  • When
    02 Jun 2019
  •  
    9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    14

  Register

  Does the act of scouring wool perplex you? Does your wool felt or not get clean enough? Do you know how to get rid of dirty tips or VM? Do you want to know if your wool is even worth processing? How about what soap to use? Did you know not all soaps are created equal and can actually harm your wool? Do you want to know how to keep locks in order so your wool combing is easier?
  In this class you will get hands on lessons in what sound wool is and how to quickly assess wool. In the mini-lab you will test soaps to see if they are the correct soap for scouring wool. Then we get our hands dirty and your wools clean! I will show you a quick and easy way to scour your wool to cut your scouring time in half. All wools provided.

  Level: Beginner
  

  Materials Fee: $20 for Wools to scour, Soaps, pH papers, Handout, Spin Dryer

  Registration: Members $100, Non-members $120

  Instructor:  Mary Pavis Egbert
  

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• How Can I Spin it, What Can I Make

  • Start
    08 Jun 2019
  •  
    10:00 AM
  • End
    09 Jun 2019
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    13

  Register

  How Can I Spin it, What Can I Make-

  Using Hand Cards, Drum Carder and a Hair Comb!   

  Curious continuing spinners, gain inspiration and skill at making the yarn you have in mind from the fiber raised and grown in your own backyard. What gives a yarn personality? Prepare (carding, drum carding, combing or not at all!) and spin lovely natural sheep shades, hand dyed locks of wool or work with the lovely solid top and space dyed rovings that you have brought from home! Make a custom blend of alpaca, angora, wool and/or mohair to design your own "local cloth". Start beyond the basics to delve into production techniques from color inspirations. Touch on spinning methods, wheel set ups, plying ideas and lessons in consistency.

  Level: Intermediate
  

  Materials fee:  $20 for Wool, washed, and in several sheepy colors/textures and vegetable dyed solid and rainbow experiments, some angora goat and rabbit hair, several pairs of hand cards, drum carder, card stock/tape, a drum carder

  Registration: Members $200, Non-members $240

  Instructor: Martha Owen
  

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• Art Dolls for Textile and Fiber Lovers

  • Start
    13 Jun 2019
  •  
  • End
    27 Jun 2019
  •  
  • Schedule
    3 sessions
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    8

  Register

  Don’t know what to do with that beautiful piece of hand-dyed fabric? Maybe you have a vintage table runner that needs a new life. How about that partial skein of yarn that isn’t enough for a project, but is too beautiful to toss? Discover the art doll as a means of creative expression for textile and fiber lovers. In this class we will learn the basics of constructing a stump doll. We will explore design principles, sources of inspiration, and methods for adapting various materials to create a beautiful one-of-a-kind figure. These figures will be constructed primarily of cloth, but mixed-media options will be discussed. A working sewing machine and basic sewing skills are required.
  

  Level: Beginner
  

  Materials fee: $25 for Pattern, fabric for head and hands, stand, stuffing

  Registration: Members $150, Non-members $180

  Instructor: Ann Hord-Heatherley

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• Appalachian Ribbed Basketry

  • Start
    15 Jun 2019
  •  
  • End
    16 Jun 2019
  •  
  • Schedule
    2 sessions
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    10

  Register

  Participants will learn all the basics of ribbed basketry and create an heirloom basket in this two day workshop. Weaving tips, using natural materials,adding textural accents and finishing techniques will be explored. Beginner weavers and others with experience will enjoy this ribbed basketry primer.
  Bring your reading glasses and some hand strength required

  Level: Beginning
  

  Materials fee: $15 for all hand dyed reeds, buckets,tools, hand outs and some wild vines.

  Registration: Members $200, Non-members $240

  Instructor:  Carla Filippelli

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• Fiber Preparation for Processing

  • When
    22 Jun 2019
  •  
    9:30 AM - 12:30 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    20

  Register

  There are many aspects to achieving the best fiber harvest possible. This class is a lecture based introduction to these many aspects. From your farm planning, animal selection and husbandry, pasture and barn management, pre shearing, shearing and post shearing protocols, fiber skirting, grading and sorting you can improve the quality of your fiber and therefore improving your end product. Handouts and work sheets will be provided.
  

  Level: All
  

  Materials Fee: $0

  Registration: Members $25, Non-members $30

  Instructor: Ruth Anne Goss

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• Learn Wicker Basketry, Create an Interwoven Base Basket

  • When
    26 Jun 2019
  •  
    9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    10

  Register

  Participants will learn many fine points of wicker basketry. Exploring basket set ups, textural additions, and finishing techniques everyone goes home with an ample handmade heirloom basket. Using hand dyed reeds and textural accents this instructor combines discussions on dyeing methods, basketry history,and tips in a non competitive and playful day of basket weaving.
  

  Level: All
  

  Materials Fee:  $15 for all hand dyed reeds, buckets, tools and hand outs or this class

  Registration: Members $100, Non-members $120

  Instructor: bio append #instructor name

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• Field Trip: Exploring the Process at a Fiber Mill

  • When
    29 Jun 2019
  •  
    10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
  • Location
    3875 Saint James Road Greeneville TN 37743
  • Spaces left
    15

  Register

  So you have your fiber ready for processing...then what? A visit to the Two Roots Fiber Mill in Greeneville, TN will show you what is involved in getting your fiber processed. You will be given a overview of the complete step by step process and then be able to observe each step in action. Each machine will be demoed in the order your fiber is processed. Processing options will be addressed such as "Should I blend with another fiber, when in the process should I blend it and what is my end goal with the product? ". If time permits you can also enjoy a visit with the alpacas and a walk through the vineyard. Lunch will be provided.

  Level: All
  

  Materials Fee: $15 for handout, drinks, and dessert

  Registration: Members $25, Non-members $30

  Instructor: Ruth Anne Goss

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• Low Tech Screen Printing

  • Start
    29 Jun 2019
  •  
    10:00 AM
  • End
    30 Jun 2019
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    14

  Register

  Unlock the mysteries of screen printing with simple, immediate, low-tech processes to print anything from t-shirts to fine scarves, from paper cards to fabric yardage. We will design a range of stencils to print through screens including: painting with screen filler and drawing fluid, rubbing textures with wax, cutting shelf paper, and more. Printing media will focus primarily on water-soluble textile inks, but we will also review processes to thicken dyes and color removers. Let me show you lots of techniques and tricks to take back home and keep on printing on your own!

  
  Level: Beginner
  

  Materials fee: $30
  

  Registration: Members $200, Non-members $240

  Instructor: JenSwearington

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• Adding Value to Our Fiber and Marketing Strategies

  • When
    29 Jun 2019
  •  
    1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    3875 Saint James Road Greeneville TN 37743
  • Spaces left
    15

  Register

  Rounding out the class series on fiber production, processing, and marketing, Louise Nuttle, owner of Dry Creek Alpacas and co-founder of Only the Finest, a TN Alpaca Fiber Consortium, will lead a discussion about ways in which we can add to the intrinsic value and increase the marketability of our locally grown fibers.
  

  Level: All levels

  Materials fee: $0

  Instructor: Louise Nuttle

  Registration: Members $50, Non-members $60

  
  

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• Weaving on a Triangle Loom

  • When
    06 Jul 2019
  •  
    10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    6

  Register

  Weaving on a triangle loom is fun, creative, easy and quick. There is no elaborate planning and measuring process. Triloom weaving is an efficient way to use yarn, so you can use your stash yarn or more expensive designer, or hand-spun yarns. Triangle looms are great for weaving plaid patterns and elegant lace patterns. The process is simple to learn and is enjoyable for adults and children of any age. Continuous strand weaving has no separate warp and weft but uses one continuous strand of yarn. This instruction is a basic class on continuous strand weaving and can be used as an entry to more advance techniques such as twill, lace, double weaves, inlay, tartans, and other color sequences, and for the designer!

  Level: Beginning
  

  Materials Fee:  $5.00 for Instructional handouts

  Registration: Members $100, Non-members $120

  Instructor: Marilyn Haas-Haseman
  

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• Exploring Natural Dyes

  • Start
    07 Jul 2019
  •  
  • End
    04 Aug 2019
  •  
  • Schedule
    3 sessions
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    9

  Register

  We will explore the range of color obtained by a few of the dye plants that can be grown or harvested in our region, such as weld, marigold, madder root, and black walnut. We will learn how to dye with these plants, exploring how pH, mordants and over dyeing will shift the color. We will create an elaborate sample book with wool, cotton, and silk. All mordanting will be done prior to class, but I will share the mordant processes used to create the samples.

  Level: All
  

  Materials fee: $20 for Dyes, fiber sample, etc

  Registration: Members $150, Non-members $180

  Instructor: Melanie Wilder
  

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• Clothing Design

  • When
    13 Jul 2019
  •  
    10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    9

  Register

  You look for that special pattern to use for your handmade cloth and you just don't know what to select. This class will help you identify what looks best on you, what works with handwoven and felted fabrics and what design will show show off our handwoven fabrics. We will investigate and study some garments from past convergence shows, to identify the successful tenets of successful design. We will also participate in some practice exercises to help see garment design in a different way.
  

  Level: Beginning

  Materials Fee: $3 for Practice exercises, projector, patterns

  Registration: Members $100, Non-members $120

  Instructor: Joan Berner

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• Small Looms with Big Results

  • Start
    14 Jul 2019
  •  
  • End
    15 Jul 2019
  •  
  • Schedule
    2 sessions
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    10

  Register

  Weaving can be small, portable and uncomplicated while remaining creative, challenging and lots of fun. Susan brings decades of weaving skills to these small loom projects that can become as large as the weaver can imagine. From tiny amulet purses to snuggly throws for your couch, there is no limit to the results of weavings done on these small looms. Textures, colors and weave structures will all be studied in this class. Whether you have no experience and would like to try weaving on a small scale as an introduction, or whether you have been weaving on a large loom for years and now have reasons for scaling down, this class will offer many types of looms and techniques for you to consider. From cardboard, to pot holders, to pin looms and bands, this class will challenge you to use your imagination and hopefully see weaving from a different angle.

  Level: All levels

  Materials fee: $20 for all looms and all yarns

  Instructor: Susan Morgan Leveille

  Registration: Members $200, Non-members $240

  
  

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• Recycled fabric and embossed velvet note cards

  • When
    20 Jul 2019
  •  
    1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    15

  Register

  Fabric,lace, velvet and buttons are used to make a collaged note cards. We will also learn to emboss velvet to use on our cards.

  Level: Beginning

  Materials fee: $3 for Blank note cards and velvet scraps.

  Instructor: Elizabeth Searle

  Registration: Members $50, Non-members $60

  
  

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• Two Days, Two Books

  • Start
    02 Aug 2019
  •  
  • End
    03 Aug 2019
  •  
  • Schedule
    2 sessions
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    10

  Register

  Day 1: The Favorite Sketchbook

  There are sketchbooks and sketchbooks, but this particular lovely book has become my favorite and will be yours too! It opens totally flat, it can be made from easy to fine materials, and best of all, it features a textile cover and you made it! We'll be making a 6" x 6" sketchbook in class with hard covers and 120 pages of multi-media paper. Once you make this book in class, you'll know how to make larger and smaller version with whatever paper you want! You'll learn all the book making basics and then some…paper stuff, gluing, piercing, sewing, all the fabulous bits that go into making a well-made, useful and enjoyable sketchbook/journal. I will bring a tool kit for you to use and all the supplies including some wonderful pieces of fabrics to use on the covers, but you might want to keep your eye open for that special thrift store find, or check your drawers for your favorite saved textile treasures. Light to medium weight, woven cotton type fabrics work the best.

  Day 2: The Perfect Bound Journal

  The perfect binding (glued binding) is one we handle all the time in our daily lives as ordinary paperback books, yet when used in a handmade notebook it becomes extraordinary. We will make a “Perfect Little Notebook” using this quick and marvelous binding technique as well as tea staining the paper sheets (text block) for an antique look and feel, creating the cover from your favorite cotton or rayon fabric and making a closure from small buttons and ribbons.  Once we finish our small ( 5” x 3.75” ) notebook of 64 pages, information will be shared as how to create larger and different shapes for this binding at home.

  Level: All levels

  Materials fee: $55 for handouts, use of book binding kit, sketch paper, glues, waxed linen, extra fabrics, All supplies needed to make sketchbook

  Instructor: Chad Alice Hagen

  Registration: Members $200, Non-members $240

  
  

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• Design Your Own Shawl

  • Start
    10 Aug 2019
  •  
  • End
    24 Aug 2019
  •  
  • Schedule
    3 sessions
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    10

  Register

  Students will learn how to shape 4 different styles of shawl: half circle, triangle, sideways triangle and square. They will learn how to input different texture, cable or colorwork patterns into these shapes in order to design their own unique shawl.
  
  Level: Intermediate
  

  Materials fee: None
  

  Registration: Members $300, Non-members $360

  Instructor:  Christina Danaee 
  

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• Putting Color on Silk

  • When
    11 Aug 2019
  •  
    10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    9

  Register

  Students will learn to use Lanaset (acid) dyes to permanently color commercially woven silk cloth. Immersion (fold, clamp, resist) and surface design (mask, stencil, stamp) techniques will be sampled. Emphasis is on the process rather than a particular product, with an intuitive, nontechnical approach. Information will be shared via discussion and handouts so students may continue to work at home.
  

  Level: All levels
  

  Materials Fee:  $40 for Lanaset (acid) dyes, vinegar, sodium alginate, synthrapol, vinyl gloves. A selection of silk fabrics: 2 fat quarters very light weight, at least one fat quarter mid weight, 2 fat quarters noil, 2 scarf blanks. Handouts. Access to Neal's surface design tool/toy box (clamps, stencils, stamps, brushes, etc.)

  Registration: Members $100, Non-members $120

  Instructor: Neal Howard
  

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• Indigo Harvest

  • When
    31 Aug 2019
  •  
    10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    12

  Register

  Bring your freshly harvested leaves and learn four simple non-vat techniques using ice water and a blender to get robin's egg blue and lavender on protein fibers and light blue and pink on cellulose with the addition of readily available household chemicals. If time permits, we may make a fructose vat with the strained pulp.

  Level: Beginning; anyone whose mother allows them to use a blender can do this
  

  Materials fee: $5 for ice, assists, handouts

  Instructor: Eileen Hallman

  Registration: Members $100, Non-members $120

  
  

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• Small Looms with Big Results

  • Start
    08 Sep 2019
  •  
    10:00 AM
  • End
    09 Sep 2019
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    10

  Register

  Weaving can be small, portable and uncomplicated while remaining creative, challenging and lots of fun. Susan brings decades of weaving skills to these small loom projects that can become as large as the weaver can imagine. From tiny amulet purses to snuggly throws for your couch, there is no limit to the results of weavings done on these small looms. Textures, colors and weave structures will all be studied in this class. Whether you have no experience and would like to try weaving on a small scale as an introduction, or whether you have been weaving on a large loom for years and now have reasons for scaling down, this class will offer many types of looms and techniques for you to consider. From cardboard, to pot holders, to pin looms and bands, this class will challenge you to use your imagination and hopefully see weaving from a different angle.

  Level: All levels

  Materials fee: $20 for all looms and all yarns

  Instructor: Susan Morgan Leveille

  Registration: Members $200, Non-members $240

  
  

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• From Tapa to Washi: The Legacy of Papery Mulberry

  • Start
    14 Sep 2019
  •  
  • End
    16 Sep 2019
  •  
  • Schedule
    2 sessions
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    25

  Register

  Materials made from the bast fiber of the paper mulberry plant (broussonetia papyrifera) are known by many names: tapa, wauke, kozo, dak, saeh, aka, malaing, gul-toot, hiapo, kapa, dualang, washi, hanji, and many others. Originally from the Asian Pacific region, paper mulberry has been transported by humans and animals so that it now is present and continues to spread in each continent, except Antarctica. The plant has a voracious system of roots that can quickly overtake native species, degrade soil quality, and cause erosion. However, in parts of the world where the plant has a legacy of a culture of use, there is not a problem with it spreading because people recognize the value of it, and it is kept in ecological balance through use. Paper mulberry has been used for millennia as clothing, spiritual material, currency, rope, paper, scripts, sculpture, wall paper, bags, contemporary art, and more. In this hands-on, two-day workshop we will survey the diverse historic and contemporary uses of paper mulberry, how to identify the plant in the wild, responsible harvesting practices, and various processing methods. Starting with the raw plant, participants will learn how to process the bast fiber to achieve a variety of effects. Each participant will form a sheet of paper from pulp and a swath of bark cloth or lace to take home.
  

  Level: All levels
  

  Materials fee:

  Registration: Members $200, Non-members $240

  Instructor:  Lauren Bacchus

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• Explorations in Kudzu Fiber

  • When
    21 Sep 2019
  •  
    9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    25

  Register

  Members of the Kudzu Cooperative and Local Cloth are excited to facilitate a workshop that explores the ancient processes of harvesting, cooking, retting, and rinsing kudzu vine fiber. This lustrous, dynamic fiber has been used for thousands of years in various parts of Asia to make rope, cloth, and paper. Kudzu is so abundant in our bioregion, and the Kudzu Collective is committed to promoting this culture of use. Join us in exploring the vast story kudzu has to tell us, and bring your ideas of how its fibers can be used for fiber art! Instructors from the Kudzu Cooperative, will guide workshop participants in hands-on kudzu vine processing throughout the morning. We will begin the day harvesting in a nearby urban kudzu patch, and then work together to rinse already retted fiber (retted means “rotted,” so prepare for a stink!). Wear clothes that you don't mind getting wet and a little messy. During lunchtime we will hear the story of kudzu, an intriguing tale of many layers, and introduce the group to the culinary and medicinal benefits of kudzu root starch, another valuable coproduct of this useful plant. Throughout the afternoon, we will then work with processed kudzu fibers to explore how the fiber responds to various manipulations. A small skein of pre-processed fiber will be provided for participants to experiment with spinning and weaving. Feel free to bring a small loom or other spinning and weaving equipment to experiment with. Additional pre-processed fibers will be available for purchase. Don't miss this unique workshop that encompasses ecology, sustainability, anthropology, and fiber art!
  

  Level: All
  

  Materials Fee:  $10
  

  Registration: Members $50, Non-members $60

  Instructor: Kudzu Co-Op Members

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• Beginning Spinning

  • When
    29 Sep 2019
  •  
    1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    6

  Register

  Curious about spinning? This class is designed for the new spinner, or someone who needs a refresher on the basics. Learn about the workings of a spinning wheel and tools like the niddy noddy and lazy kate. Practice the motions of drafting (pulling) fiber and spinning it into yarn. Plying and finishing yarn will also be covered, if there is time. You'll leave this class with a skein of yarn from what you've spun. All tools provided, or bring your own wheel if you have one.

  
  Level: Beginner
  Materials Fee: $10 for fiber and use of spinning wheels
  

  Registration: Members $50, Non-members $60

  Instructor: Lorri Helms
  

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• Two colors, One round – beginning stranded colorwork

  • When
    05 Oct 2019
  •  
    10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    15

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  In this class, we will explore stranded colorwork while working on the Knights’ Banner Cowl. This is a 3-color cowl with simple stitch repeats.
  

  Level: must know how to knit, purl, and work in the round

  Materials Fee: None

  Registration: Members $50, Non-members $60

  Instructor: Varian Brandon
  

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• Eco Printing - Playing with Nature's Colors

  • When
    12 Oct 2019
  •  
    10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    8

  Register