Skip Navigation Website Accessibility

Weaving Classes


Beginning Rigid Heddle Weaving

Cost: $48 plus supplies
Supplies: Rigid-heddle loom with 8-dent heddle, loom clamp(s), warping peg and threading hook, 1 stick shuttle, 2 balls of worsted weight wool yarn in contrasting colors. Ella Rae Classic or Cascade 220 is recommended. (Most rigid heddle looms come with all the supplies required for the class except the yarn. If you have an older loom or are not sure if your loom has the supplies, please let us know when you sign up.)

A limited number of Schacht Cricket and Ashford SampleIt looms are available for a $10 rental fee. Please let us know if you want to rent a loom when you sign up for the class.

Prerequisites: None
Time: One 6-hour session.

Learn the basics of weaving on a rigid heddle loom. We’ll cover weaving terminology, direct warping, winding and managing shuttles, achieving a balanced weave and basic finishing techniques. As time allows, we’ll discuss weaving drafts, yarn choices for weaving, pattern planning and alternate methods of warping.

















Finishing Weaving

Cost: $18
Supplies: No supplies required. If you have a piece that’s ready to come off the loom or a piece you’ve taken off but don’t know how to finish, please bring it.
Prerequisites: None.
Time: One 2-hour session.

Now that you’ve woven a perfect piece, how do you finish it? In this class, you’ll learn to take your piece off the loom and finish it in a variety of ways including twisting fringe and braiding fringe (3- and 4-strand braiding). You’ll also learn wet-finishing techniques to give your weaving a perfect finished hand and drape.

Reading Drafts

Cost: $18
Supplies: No supplies required, although you may want to bring notepaper, graph paper and a pencil.
Prerequisites: None.
Time: One 2-hour session.

Drafts are to weavers what knitting charts are to knitters and sheet music is to musicians. At first a draft may look incomprehensible, but with a little knowledge and a little practice, you can learn to read a draft, to draw a picture of the finished fabric from a draft, and to weave from one. This class is suitable for both rigid-heddle and multi-shaft weavers.

Weaving Spa Cloths

Cost: $33 plus supplies
Supplies: Rigid-heddle loom with 10-dent heddle, warping peg and threading hook, 2 balls of light worsted weight or DK weight cotton, linen, hemp or blend yarn in coordinating colors.
One size 8 double-pointed knitting needle.
Optional: One size J crochet hook or any suitable size to pull up loops of the yarn.
Prerequisites: You must know how to warp your loom and know how to achieve a balanced weave.
Time: One 4-hour session.

Here is a fun twist on simple plain weave. You’ll get started weaving four spa cloths with looped texture. In almost no time, you’ll be weaving gifts for friends, family and be sure to weave some for yourself!
















Rigid Heddle Lace Weaving

Cost: $33 plus supplies
Supplies: Rigid-heddle loom with 12-dent heddle, clamp(s), warping peg and threading hook, one stick shuttle, one pick-up stick, 2 balls of fingering-weight yarn in coordinating colors. (Panda Silk is a nice choice.)
Prerequisites: You must know how to warp your loom and know how to achieve a balanced weave.
Time: One 4-hour session.

Are you tired of plain weave? Although plain-weave can be very interesting, your rigid-heddle loom is capable of many other weave structures. One of the nicest, yet easiest to achieve is a simple lace weave. We’ll get you started weaving a lace scarf in this class.
















Rigid Heddle Faux Ikat Weaving

Cost: $33 plus supplies
Supplies: Rigid-heddle loom with 12-dent heddle, threading hook, one stick shuttle, 2 balls of fingering-weight yarn. The warp yarn must have short color runs. The weft yarn must be a solid or tonal that coordinates with the warp yarn.
Prerequisites: You must know how to warp your loom and know how to achieve a balanced weave.
Time: One 4-hour session.

Here is plain weave with a difference! Make your piece look like you hand-painted the entire warp. In this class, you’ll learn to wind the warp in a special way on the warping board to cause the warp colors to pool together. You’ll also learn to warp your loom indirectly without using a warping peg.















Rigid Heddle Houndstooth Check Weaving

Cost: $33 plus supplies
Supplies: Rigid-heddle loom with 12-dent heddle, threading hook, warping peg and clamps, two stick shuttles, 2 balls of fingering-weight yarn in contrasting colors.
Prerequisites: You must know how to warp your loom and know how to achieve a balanced weave.
Time: One 4-hour session.

Although rigid heddle looms are only capable of plain weave (without hand or pick-up stick manipulation), there are many color weaves that lend variety to your weaving. One of the simplest is houndstooth check. Whether you want to weave a retro Chanel-inspired pink and grey piece or something with more color punch, houndstooth is as classic and attractive as it is easy.

















Rigid Heddle Log Cabin Weaving

Cost: $33 plus supplies
Supplies: Rigid-heddle loom with 8, 10 or 12-dent heddle, threading hook, two stick shuttles, two balls of yarn in a weight to go with your heddle in contrasting colors.
Prerequisites: You must know how to warp your loom and know how to achieve a balanced weave.
Time: One 4-hour session.

Log Cabin is another color-and-weave structure (plain weave with color interest). Although it is a simple tabby weave with no pick-up stick or finger manipulation, it has the look that your weaving is… well… woven! There are lots of fun variations of log cabin to achieve different effects. You’ll also learn to warp your loom using a warping board rather than a warping peg.

















Weaving for the Kitchen

Cost: $33 plus supplies
Supplies: Rigid-heddle loom, one heddle to suit the yarn you want to use, threading hook, 2 balls of DK-weight yarn in contrasting colors.
Prerequisites: You must know how to warp your loom and know how to achieve a balanced weave. You should know how to use sewing patterns and sew simple projects.
Time: One 4-hour session.

Are you tired of weaving scarves? Would you like to start making things with the fabric you weave? Get your feet wet by weaving fabric to be made into potholders and oven mitts. You’ll learn to use commercial patterns with your weaving, learn to choose yarns and plan your projects specifically for sewing.

Free patterns provided!

















Breaking All The Rules Scarf

Remember all the rules Debbi taught you for yarn selection in your beginning weaving class? In this class, you get to forget most of them! We'll break as few or as many of the rules as you want, but Debbi will show you how to weave with different thicknesses, different textures, different colors, and finish up by using your beginning warp as your ending weft.

Mind blown yet?  The end result is a scarf/poncho/cowl fabric that has no beginning and no end. It's not quite circular and very, very unusual. (Caryn has had folks try to buy hers while she's worn it on business trips....)
Session 1 will include warping and some weaving; Session 2 will include using the beginning warp as ending weft; make sure you finish weaving the bulk of the project during the week in between classes! 
















Cost:
$96 plus supplies
Supplies: Rigid-heddle loom, one heddle to suit the yarn you want to use, threading hook, yarn. Yarn choices to consider: 1 skein fingering, about 50g of mohair, dk weight rayon, 1 skein novelty (e.g., Viva Glitz or ribbon yarns). Students will have time in class to pick out yarn with Debbi's guidance (yarn from home also an option, bring interesting stash yarns...).

Prerequisites: This class is for experienced weavers. You must know how to warp your loom and how to achieve a balanced weave, Beginning Rigid Heddle weaving + lots of practice. It helps to have a spirit of adventure!

Time: Two 6-hour sessions (consecutive Saturdays)



Weaving Mug Rugs

Cost: $33 plus supplies
Supplies: Rigid-heddle loom, 8-dent heddle, threading hook, yarn for the warp and weft. Suitable weft yarns are single-spun worsted-weight yarns such as Brown Sheep Company’s Lamb’s Pride Worsted. Suitable warp yarns are laceweight or finer cotton yarns such as Cotton 8 or size 10 crochet cotton.
Prerequisites: This class is for weavers who know how to warp their looms and how to achieve a balanced weave.
Time: One 4-hour session.

How would you like to make a quick tapestry gift? Weave up some mug rugs and experiment with tapestry techniques. Even the narrowest rigid heddle loom will work just fine for this class. Get a head-start on Christmas gifts or make a few for yourself!

Basic Tapestry Weaving

Remember how hard you worked to not beat your weft down too hard in rigid heddle or multi-shaft weaving? In this class you’ll be pressing the weft down so hard that the warp can’t be seen.

Tapestry weaving is a technique wherein you can draw pictures in your weaving. It is to weaving what intarsia is to knitting. Typically worked on a tapestry loom, it can be done on your rigid-heddle but you will need an extra tool to pack the weft down tightly enough. In this class, we’ll be learning the basic techniques of this style of weaving.










Supplies
 

Loom: Basic tapestry loom. Schacht tapestry looms available for rent or purchase. 
YarnWeft yarn; suitable weft yarns are single-spun worsted-weight yarns such as Lamb’s Pride or Tamatz. You’ll also need a fork! Yes, that’s right, a table fork. (If you happen to have a Navajo or tapestry fork, bring that, but please don’t rush out and buy one!)

Prerequisites: This class is for weavers who know how to warp their looms and how to achieve a balanced weave.
Time: One 6-hour session.Remember how hard you worked to not beat your weft down too hard? In this class you’ll be pressing the weft down so hard that the warp can’t be seen.

6 hour class, $48

















Inkle / Band Weaving

Cost: $33 plus supplies
Supplies: Rigid-heddle loom (see note below), 12-dent heddle, threading hook, warping peg, stick shuttle, 2 skeins (or more!) of cotton fingering-weight yarn such as Catania.
Prerequisites: You must know how to warp your loom and know how to achieve a balanced weave.
Time: One 4-hour session.

Would you like to make a band such as a belt, guitar strap, camera strap or hatband? Your rigid-heddle loom is certainly capable of doing such weaving. In this class, we’ll design and make a narrow band to learn the technique of warp-faced weaving.

Note! You can definitely do inkle-style or band weaving on a rigid-heddle loom, and that’s what this class is geared for. If you have an inkle loom, you may use it, but you must have at least 25 string heddles made for it and brought to class.

Doubleweave – Double Your Fun!

Cost: $48 plus supplies
Supplies: Rigid-heddle loom (see note below), two 8-dent heddles, threading hook, two pick-up sticks, 2 balls of DK-weight yarn in contrasting colors.
Prerequisites: You must know how to warp your loom and know how to achieve a balanced weave.
Time: One 6-hour session.

Do you think you’re limited by the width of your loom? Learn to weave a piece that’s twice as wide as your loom, or weave two layers at the same time or weave a tube! All this can be done with doubleweave. We’ll work on a sampler using all three techniques.

Note! Not all looms are capable of using two heddles. Suitable looms are the Schacht Flip, the Kromski Harp with the second heddle block kit installed, the Ashford Knitter’s Loom with the second heddle block kit installed and the Ashford Rigid Heddle Loom with the second heddle block kit installed. The Schacht Crickets and the Ashford SampleIts are not suitable for doubleweave work.

Weaving Studio Day!

Cost: $18
Supplies: Bring your own project and any questions you may have.
Prerequisites: None!
Time: One 4-hour session.

This isn’t a class, per se. Bring your loom and project and any questions. We’ll get together and spend four hours just weaving. Debbi will be here to help and answer any questions. You might even get to see her weave! Studio Day is open to all weavers, all ability levels and all types of looms. Space is limited so be sure to reserve your spot!

Diversified Plain Weave

Cost: $33
Supplies: Rigid Heddle loom, 10 dent heddle, 1 skein of worsted weight yarn suitable for warp (Twizzle by Mountain Colors is perfect!), 1 skein of sock yarn.
Prerequisites: basic rigid heddle weaving
Time: One 4-hour session.

Create beautiful effects that look much harder than they are in this fun class! Space is limited so be sure to reserve your spot!

Yarnivore Gift Card


Purchase a Yarnivore Gift Card:
Amount: $
Add to Cart