Private, semi-private and virtual instruction is available through my studio in The Mill at Shady Lea in North Kingstown, RI.
Weaving cloth is magic! My mission is to share my skill and passion for the vanishing language of handweaving. This language speaks to the quality of life I want to live. I strive to keep handweaving current and necessary. Learn to weave; warping and technical skills; pattern drafting and structure; unusual materials; Special needs and high risk populations; professional development; consultation. Have questions? Email me at realfibers@aol.com
Weaving Studio
Beginner & Beyond
Beginning to weave can seem overwhelming with so many elements to consider!This introductory level class presents basic knowledge of tools, materials and techniques. It is also perfect for those who want to improve before moving into more advanced level. We will have fun building confidence, learning the vocabulary, and developing critical craft skills. This will be project based that includes further development of fundamentals for students who have had at least one class.
Intermediate
This level assumes a working knowledge of basic studio tools, materials and equipment necessary to accomplish the projects and techniques to be explored. Participants feel comfortable in the studio setting. Includes reviews and builds on basic skill sets that allow for those with more experience to work at their own pace.
One Day Weaving Adventures
Enjoy a day creating an 18″ x 28″ cloth at The Art Annex, my beautiful teaching studio located in a refurbished Mill in Pawtucket. You will learn to weave on a floor loom and take home what you have made. Patterns and color are fun and easy to follow. No experience necessary. The looms are threaded and set-up with colorful cottons. All supplies included! Use the code HandmadeLove to get 4 classes from October 26 through November 16, for the price of 3!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/open-weaving-studio-tickets-675537580087?aff=oddtdtcreator
DIY Espadrilles
Yes, make your own Espradilles!
Imagine the fun of expressing your sole as you step out in shoes you have designed, woven, and stitched. This project is the ultimate statement for sustainable style.
For this workshop, come prepared with fabric you have already woven. We will discuss fit as you tailor the pattern to your own foot. Next, we secure the fabric for toe and heel uppers with interfacing and seam or binding tape. Finally, we start attaching the fabric to the soles with a sturdy blanket stitch.
You will leave with the pattern and all the skills necessary to adorn the feet of everyone you love. Once you make one pair of custom shoes — you will make at least 2 more.
Basic machine sewing skills are needed and hand sewing is required.
Fearless Loom Dressing
Have Fun with Ms and Os
This unassuming, traditional 4-shaft weave structure can be surprisingly fun and sophisticated! It can be woven in many ways for linens, place mats, cushions, scarves and garment fabric. Color, fiber, and design help create an exceptional statement with this weave. Explore how different yarns can create texture and pleasing color effects. Although it is mostly 2 blocks on 4 shafts it can also be 3 blocks on 4 shafts.
We will look at a variety of techniques to use this conventional structure in a new way. Identifying pattern, creating symmetry (or not), making rhythmic repeats, using unusual yarns, varying textures and thicknesses all contribute to building design.
90 Minute Presentation or Workshop
One Day Weaving Adventures
Enjoy a day creating an 18″ x 28″ cloth at The Art Annex, my beautiful teaching studio located in a refurbished Mill in Pawtucket. You will learn to weave on a floor loom and take home what you have made. Patterns and color are fun and easy to follow. No experience necessary. The looms are threaded and set-up with colorful cottons. All supplies included!
Use the code HandmadeLove to get 4 classes from October 26 through November 16 for the price of 3!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/open-weaving-studio-tickets-675537580087?aff=oddtdtcreator
Paper. Book. Art.
Every aspect of hand papermaking allows for repetition, concentration, discovery and opportunity – just like weaving. Using a fusion of Eastern and Western techniques we will work with abaca, flax, iris, day lily, persicaria, and other common garden plants to bring these fibers to their fullest expression. Through beating, sheet forming, manipulation, and drying we will uncover the distinct personalities that allow us to tell a story.
Each participant will have samples to handle, compare, explore and question. We will use these handmade papers, along with threads, buttons, adornments, and other papers to create visual metaphors that will extend the way we communicate. Folds, covers, stitched folios and embellishments will encourage investigative ways a story can be read and experienced. After making a series of samples, we will choose one method of telling our own unique story. Guaranteed, you will be giving books all year long after this! 90 Minute Presentation or Workshop
Paper Yarn
Spinning paper is a dynamic process that has been used for centuries to create textiles from Obi to undergarments to WWI uniforms to accessories. Join me in exploring the characteristics of fibers that create the best paper yarn. We will learn the straightforward method for preparing paper to spin and then, start spinning! We will use familiar and unusual fi
bers and the results are astonishing.
This presentation can be combined with making your own paper. Everyone will go home with at least 4 sheets of handmade paper from various materials — daylily, iris, indigo, cana lily, abaca and jeans are just an example of the materials that can be used. Hands on and immersive! 90 Minutes Presentation or Workshop
Paper. From Sheet to Spindle
Fiber has characteristics that can be articulated through the paper-making process. Using a fusion of Eastern and Western techniques we will work with abaca, flax, iris, day lily, persicaria, and other common garden plants to bring these fibers to their fullest expression. Through beating, sheet forming, pressing, manipulation, and drying we will uncover the distinct personalities inherent in these materials.
We will also examine the histories of paper yarn and clothing to add to our understanding of material and use. After thoughtfully preparing our own set of handmade papers and reviewing the results, we will gather to sit and spin paper thread that is suitable for basketry, crochet, knitting, weaving, and other hand manipulation techniques. Recognizing the unique behaviors of these fibers allows the artist to communicate a deeper understanding of intention and meaning in their work. 90 Minutes Presentation or Workshop
Renegade Treadlings on Traditional Threadings
Ms and Os, Huck-a-Back, and Swedish Point : These three traditional weave structures offer weavers the opportunity to explore myriad possibilities for towels, clothing, and accessories. Once we learn what distinguishes these threadings from others, we can expand our treadling vocabulary to create our own voice in creating innovative designs for our cloth. 90 Minute Presentation or Workshop
Transforming Tools and Weaving Wonders
Understanding the equipment we use, as weavers, is the first step to changing the way we use it. We will identify way for disrupting the fluid order of warp and weft through closely observing loom anatomy. Then you will learn how to use the knowledge of weaving equipment to achieve fantastic and unexpected effects in your cloth. Contemporary tools such as Open Reed®, Supplementary Beater®, and RailReed will be explored and demonstrated as simple alternatives we can use to transform the traditional grid into a woven wonder. Don’t be put off by the anatomy of your loom — learn it and use it! 90 Minute Presentation or Workshop
Using Color to Create Pattern with Turned Taqueté
Turned Taqueté is a perfect opportunity to step into the fun of color as the basis for exploring pattern and geometry in weaving. You will be amazed at how easy it is to use color to create designs with this simple and diverse structure. Using color in Taqueté will convince you there are no “bad” combinations. You will learn how only a few colors can create exciting shapes and designs that are individual and stunning.
Your individual colors and treadlings will allow you to create multiple widths of squares, rectangles, lines, and crossed intersections. This is a chance for your personal aesthetic to com
The Stories a Bedsheet can Tell
Indulge for a moment, in the idea of sleeping in linen bedsheets that you have woven! Linen has imperceptible elasticity, incredible strength, and a finish that will last generations. Linen will tell you exactly what it wants 
and what you have “done to it” if it doesn’t like the way you handle it. Material objects such as these are not divorced from their owners, inert ‘things’ with no life of their own. Instead, they are invested with meaning – emotional, religious, and even political. This presentation looks at material culture – linen, the history of bedsheets, and the process of making. We will share the inspiration and challenges of our quest to be hand weavers in an automated society.
90 Minute Presentation
Community Weaving Project (All Ages)
This activity involves the use of large wooden frame looms (typically 4’x6’) that the students help build. These frame looms are free standing and two-sided allowing participants to work from both sides as they weave wide cloth strips through the holes to weave their design.
This project is most successful when students produce designs that have been inspired through earlier classroom discussions on color, pattern, texture, and symbolism. We discuss finger-manipulation techniques, woven joins, embellishments, color choices and finishing.
The Community weaving process takes 8 – 20 hours from start to finish. It is amazing to watch this process! Just when you think it is done, it becomes clear that the weaving could use a bit more fabric here or a touch of color there. It is a wonderful lesson in group dynamics and offers students a chance to interact directly with their peers – they are the leaders in this.
More information: About Suzi Ballenger | Curriculum Vitae (pdf) | Press | News & Events | Contact
