I'm currently making my first foray into teaching weaving, with a series of introductory weaving workshops at Compass Inn Museum. Several months ago I sent out a survey to those who had expressed interest in order to determine what the most-likely attendees would be able to handle, in terms of times & dates. There's no pleasing everyone, but most people seemed interested in short half-day workshops on the weekends. So my challenge was to figure out what kind of projects can be completed in just 3-4 hours, and ideally all on the same warp. The answer turned out to be rosepath mug rugs.
Actually, the first challenge was to find enough looms to make any sort of workshop feasible in the first place. I already had three looms, but two of them are entirely too large to lug around to different locations. The 60" Leclerc is simply out of the question, and the 32" Hammett rug loom must be completely disassembled just to make it through a doorway. Foldable student looms were a logistical necessity. I already had one 22" Harrisville, and spend several months keeping a close eye on various online outlets to pick up good deals on used looms. I held firm on my decision to buy only 6 treadle looms, which made it a little more difficult. By the time my classes started last weekend, I ended up with two more 22" looms just within my tight budget. So my maximum class size, for now, is three.
Class 1: Shaker weaving (twisted weft)
There are all sorts of classes that I'd like to get around to eventually, and I'm sure rag rugs will be popular. My small student looms aren't built for rugs, but they can handle them if you're determined enough. I've successfully woven half a dozen rag rugs on my little Harrisville, so I know it can be done. But rugs aren't on the docket at the moment simply because of their size; although you can weave one pretty quickly, you'd need to re-warp the loom between class sessions. I decided early on that the current workshop series would be vastly simplified if I could pre-warp the looms with enough warp for all 6 of my planned classes. We will cut off the mug rugs after each session and re-tie the warp to the tie-on bar, but the sleying and threading and winding will be done. This will make it doable to run a morning and afternoon class on the same day.
Class 2: Clasped Weft
I planned out a six-class series that goes from absolute beginner all the way up to twill boundweave and krokbragd. The first three sessions are strictly plainweave and a great introduction to the basics: starting and ending a thread, changing colors, using multiple shuttles and floating selvedges, and getting the right weaver's angle and an even beat. After that come the more advanced classes with 3+ colors and the twill treadles. That was the idea, anyway. Perhaps it's not surprising that the intro classes aren't as popular, because even raw beginners see the pretty boundweave designs and want to skip ahead to those. To account for different levels of experience, I've made an easier and harder variation to choose from in each class. With only three students, I should be able to give extra attention to any beginners who've bitten off more than they can chew.
Class 3: Weft-faced weaving on 2 shafts
My mug rugs are all about 5.25" square. The warp is 32 ends of doubled 8/4 cotton carpet warp at 6 epi, plus floating selvedges on both sides. The weft is Sugar 'n Cream cotton available from any craft store. The initial idea was to allow students to bring their own weft materials, but that idea got booted early on. I ended up purchasing three colorways for students to choose from. One is the bold colors that I chose for myself; what looks yellow in the pictures is actually a bright green. The other two are light-to-dark gradients in teal and purple.
Class 4: Boundweave On Opposites
I used my mother as a guinea pig student. She had never woven before, but has always wanted to try. I had her try out all of my patterns, from simple to complex, and the trial run went swimmingly. She chose the teal colorway, and her lovely results are pictured up top. Apart from one or two minor errors, her mug rugs are practically indistinguishable from my own samples. That gives me a nice confidence boost as I start teaching public classes. She also asked great questions and helped me tweak my handouts with details that hadn't occurred to me without a fresh pair of eyes.
Class 5: Tricolor Twill Boundweave
Before the classes start, I have to pre-warp the looms for the students. But that's the daunting part of the process that people need often need the most help with. So I figured, why not make a demonstration day out of it? With three looms to warp in preparation for the first weaving classes this Saturday, I conducted three warping demos last weekend. Attendance was decent, and people really seemed to like seeing how it's done. There were lots of good questions and I went home in a great mood despite the very long day. I usually warp alone, and it was quite nice indeed to have helpers, especially when it came to winding onto the warp beam.
Class 6: Krokbragd
That's it! All prep-work is done. The course is planned, patterns designed, handouts written, samples woven, room arranged, looms warped, tickets sold. All that's left is to teach the classes themselves. I'm looking forward to several weeks of fun and inspiration.
Comments
Post a Comment