WORKSHOPS

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• Combining Twill Gamp Patterns for Finished Projects

  • When
    21 Feb 2019
  •  
    9:30 AM - 12:30 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, #11
  • Spaces left
    6

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  Broken, point, extended point, M & W, advancing and herringbone all are examples of an almost endless variety of twill weaving patterns possible on four shafts. The best way to learn about these patterns is by weaving a gamp or sample blanket. Start with a warp divided into sections of different twill threadings. Apply a 2/2, 1/3 or 3/1 twill tie-up and then treadle the patterns in the order threaded. The resulting gamp illustrates how each threading looks when woven with itself, PLUS many more examples of how they look woven with each other. This is the last of a series of three classes guiding participants through development and weaving of a twill gamp, using lecture, hands-on demos and, if desired, at-home practice. This class focuses on how to combine patterns from the twill gamp to create original weaving designs.

  
  

  Level: Intermediate

  Materials fee: $5 for Handout with drafts, finished woven gamp for discussion and all materials and tools used in class.

  Registration:

  Members $50

  Non-members $60
  

  Instructor: Resident Artist Karen Donde
  

  
  

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• Woven Shibori with Silk and Lanaset

  • Start
    15 Mar 2019
  •  
  • End
    17 Mar 2019
  •  
  • Schedule
    3 sessions
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    8

  Register

  Combine woven shibori, a loom controlled patterning system using temporary gathering threads, with silk noil and Lanaset dyes to create samples or a scarf. Bring your 4-8 harness loom dressed with a dummy warp 180 ends sett at 12epi (instructions and threading drafts will be provided) ready to tie on silk.  In addition to the aforementioned loom, participants will need to bring 2 shuttles, bobbins, warp separator (paper or sticks), scissors, seam ripper and other tools for weaving. A pickup stick longer than 15" is optional. Manual bobbin winders will be available. Learn the process. Handouts will support taking your new skills to your home studio.
  

  Skill Level: Intermediate
  

  Materials fee: $35 for silk noil warps (one per participant), silk weft, embroidery floss, dyes (including vinegar and sodium alginate), handouts, woven shibori samples, miscellaneous tools (plastic containers, brushes, cross holders, etc.)

  Registration: Members $300, Non-members $360

  Instructor: Neal Howard
  

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• Embellish Your Felt with Stitching

  • When
    26 Mar 2019
  •  
    12:30 PM - 4:30 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    10

  Register

  Learn embroidery stitches to enhance your felt pieces for the wall, table tops, hats or clothing. Learn what needles to use and stitch with a number of different kinds of "threads" to see how they look on felt. Bring your scraps of felt to embellish and practice the stitches on. We will make a book out of them for future stitching reference.

  Level: All

  Materials Fee:  $5 for Grommets, thread, beads, needles, yarns, floss

  Registration: Members $50, Non-members $60

  Instructor: Resident Artist Joan Berner

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• Intro to Ecoprinting

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

  Register

  An introductory course that will provide students with the necessary tools to begin exploring the magical world of eco printing. Fabric preparation, mordants, tannins, modifiers and plant selection will be explored. After a series of sampling with different techniques and methods, students will print a 14 x 72" silk scarf as their final project.
  

  Level: Beginner
  

  Materials Fee: $20 covers silk for sampling, a 14 x 72" silk scarf for each participate, mordants, dyes, modifiers and everything else necessary for successful results!

  Registration: Members $100, Non-members $120

  Instructor: Patricia Spangler

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• Eco Printing: The Next Generation

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

  Register

  Eco Printing--The Next Generation is a follow-up to the introductory workshops. In this class, students will learn techniques for creating colored backgrounds to enhance the effects of eco printing. We will work with natural dyes including cochineal, logwood and osage orange, and also explore the dramatic impact various tannins have on botanical prints. Tannins explored will include oak gall nut, pomegranate and sumac. Eco printing experience is highly recommended.
  

  Level: Intermediate
  

  Materials Fee: $25 covers all natural dye and tannin materials and all other supplies necessary to facilitate successful prints . Prepped mordanted fabrics for "blankets" (carrier cloths) and silk sampling fabric as well as one 14" x 72" 8mm silk scarf for a final project.

  Registration: Members $100, Non-members $120

  Instructor: Patricia Spangler

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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
    20

  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
    10

  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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• Weaving 101

  • Start
    09 May 2019
  •  
  • End
    30 May 2019
  •  
  • Schedule
    4 sessions
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    10

  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
    16

  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
    10

  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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• 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
    15

  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
    9

  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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• 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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• 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
    15

  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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• Exploring Natural Dyes

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

  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 - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    10

  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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• 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
    10

  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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• Sewing Your Precious Handwoven Fabric

  • Start
    01 Nov 2019
  •  
    10:00 AM
  • End
    03 Nov 2019
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    8

  Register

  Sewing with handwovens often requires special techniques. The fabric characteristics of raveling and bulk require extra care and creativity in construction techniques to make your finished garment have a professional look. Learn tips and techniques to complete that garment that has been in your head for years.
  

  Level: All

  Materials fee: $5 Download fee of written and pictorial information

  Registration: Members $300, Non-members $360

  Instructor: Joan Berner

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• Weaving From The Stash

  • When
    01 Dec 2019
  •  
    10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC
  • Spaces left
    10

  Register

  Staring at your yarn stash deciding what weaving project shall be next, your eyes land on that yarn you bought at a fiber fair in 2012. You loved it then, and you love it now, but it remains on the shelf because you are just not sure how to use it. Or you still have a small quantity of a precious and expensive yarn, but don’t know how to combine it with other yarns so that it still plays the starring role in the design. Or maybe your yarn stash has simply reached critical mass, and you need to use it up so you can order more. This one-day off-loom workshop will give you suggestions for using the yarn you have to weave the cloth you want. Bring a few of your “challenge” yarns with you, and leave with one or more project ideas.

  We will:

  -Evaluate the qualities and properties of the yarns you’ve brought.
  -Share ideas about the best project for them with other participants.
  -Learn ways to combine your stash yarns with other yarns.
  -Get hands-on practice with color-mixing exercises, fiber identification & research and drafting with graph paper or computer software.

  Supplies to bring: A few yarns from your stash you are not sure how to use, pencil, pen, a few colored pencils or markers, graph paper, small calculator, scissors, scotch tape, color wheel

  Level:  Intermediate

  Materials Fee: $10 for Handout with design worksheet, design tools

  Registration: Members $100, Non-members $120

  Instructor: Karen Donde

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