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Some wonderful nubby threads made by Raquel R. |
This past weekend, I team-taught a wonderful new workshop called,
Spin and Stitch: Make Your Own Thread to Stitch (at The Art League School in Alexandria, VA). This is the first time in the fiber department that two teachers worked together to design a workshop. Sylvia De Mar and I have had this in the works for over a year. It was such a great success, that we hope that there will be other opportunities within the fiber department, and maybe even beyond, to work on rich collaborations. I hope that you enjoy the photos of what we did.
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The spindle and some fibers. |
On Day #1, Sylvia taught the class (and me too!) how to spin with a supported spindle. She provided us with a colorful selection of hand-dyed (by her) fibers including wool, silk, cotton and a synthetic.
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A selection of fibers to spin. |
For me it took a bit to understand the rhythm of twisting the fibers and releasing so that the twist traveled further up the fiber. It was a bit like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time. But eventually, it seemed a bit more natural. Here are a couple of the students spinning...
And here are some of the threads that we spun...
On Day #2, I had students use their threads to create a sampler (though some jumped right in to work on an art piece) and an expressive art piece. I suggested some tricks for working with our "wonky" threads. I have to say the "wonkiness" really appealed to me...especially making French Knots.
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French knots in my sampler. |
I provided a selection of hand woven fabric scraps, tulle, and two types of cheesecloth for students to play with. I also supplemented with yarns and pearl cotton threads.
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Tulle explosion! |
Here are the results...so expressive and colorful! Some samplers....
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Ann Z. |
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Peggy G. |
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Ruthie B. |
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Andrea B. |
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Sylvia D. |
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Sharon G. |
Expressive art pieces...
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Raquel R. |
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Susan P. |
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Susan P. |
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Ruthie B. |
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Sharon G. |
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Jamie F. |
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Ann Z. |
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Peggy G. |
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Sylvia D. |
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Gail S. |
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Gail S. |
If you live in the Washington DC area, Sylvia and I are talking about holding the workshop again this summer...stay tuned!
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