Blue led the way during the week of June 14-21, starting with Anne Landre’s Shibori & Indigo Dyeing class. Using the Japanese technique of resist-dyeing with the option of several indigo vats in a range of light, medium and dark intensities, students stitched, clamped or folded cotton, silk and linen fabrics and then dyed them for predicted (and surprising) results. The blue sky each day of class seemed to be reflected directly into the fabrics. As Anne says, “Jump into the blue!” Besides blue, all colors were incorporated in the scarves, table runners and twill samplers in Susan Frame’s Beginning Weaving class. Of the eight students, seven were new to Sievers and one had taken just one class previously, Basic […]
Boundweave and a pop-up shop
We’d been waiting for this for a long time! Since the class in 2020 was not able to be held, it had been five years since the last Boundweave class. It’s such a treat to see the rugs Lynn Stracka Shuster brings and the ones students plan, design and weave themselves. Sharpen your colored pencils and watch the rugs come to life on the looms! One of the students, who has taken many weaving and knitting classes here, had first come to Sievers for Lynn’s Boundweave class in 1997. She brought her rug back to show us now that it’s been 24 years off the loom. Another student used one of our table looms to weave her project. There’s a […]
Sievers and weaving
Continuing with a little more history, you may recall Sievers started with plan sheets to build a loom. The first print advertisement was placed in American Home Crafts magazine in 1974. In Walter Schutz’s own records, he notes on January 26, 1974, “Got our first request for our loom plans from Allen Roberts who owns north of us on Green Bay Road”. The first order of plan sheets placed from this ad was on April 15, 1974 for $9.00. About 50 orders were received in the first four months. Soon after, floor loom plans were added and Sievers began to become a name associated with weaving. Sievers School continues to offer more classes in the weaving category than in any […]
Felting and weaving
It was a beautiful week for making nuno-felted scarves, felted hats and for our first beginning weaving class of the season. Could the sky have been more blue, the blossoms more delicate and perfect or the studios more exciting with new students and new things to learn? We don’t think so. Combining lightweight silk and merino wool with instruction from Dawn Edwards, students created lovely nuno-felted scarves and flowers. It was our pleasure to welcome Dawn as a new instructor at Sievers and to see all the finished pieces students made in class. A tip of the cap to the Felt Hat class. Wow! So many choices from whimsical to classic shapes with added embellishments making them extra-special. Dawn’s own […]
First and new
The first class, many first-time weavers, a new instructor and for the first time, using the 8-shaft Baby Wolf Schacht looms in a Beginning Weaving class at Sievers were a lot of “first’s and new’s” to start our season. Besides the first project of a scarf or table runner, students finished a three-piece color gamp. Quite a lot of weaving these happy students were able to go home with! Susan Frame, the instructor, is familiar with using the 8-harness looms for beginners when teaching at The Fiber Garden so we followed suit and, as we anticipated, it all worked beautifully. One of the students attending the class had bought a Sievers loom in 1981 from Walter Schutz (we still have a record of […]
