Textiles

Adire (Ah-Dee-Re) is the name given to indigo dyed cloth produced by the Yoruba women of Southwestern Nigeria, using a variety of resist dye techniques. Several varieties of Indigo plants grow in different parts of Nigeria, and the rich blue cloth was once produced in very limited quantities and was much coveted as a sign of wealth and abundance. In this two-day intensive class, students will learn the basics of two traditional methods of Adire – Adire Eleko (Cassava paste resist) and Adire Alabela (Soy Wax resist). Students also will learn about the rich textile craft history, trade, and symbology of this Yoruba textile art from a Nigerian-American artist.

The ancient art of Bedouin weaving remains to this day, an indigenous process of making peace and renewing the world. This understanding once belonged to all the diverse cultures of the Middle East. But today, it is mostly Bedouin communities who keep these practices alive, using the nomadic ground loom as a bridge between our inner and outer worlds, and a way to make peace.

This class will show participants how to build this bridge. It will also offer a historical backdrop to the origins of Bedouin weaving, examine the complex cultural identities of Israel and Palestine, and present the way in which this endangered fiber art is being used as a tool for reconciliation and cultural renewal. Students will be taken through the processes involved in weaving, from spinningwool string on a “marzal” (Bedouin drop spindle), to designing and weaving their own 5-6 foot long “sharashib,” a traditional Bedouin tent band.

Students will gain confidence in understanding the fundamentals of one of humanity’s oldest, undying means of expression, and leave with a finished sharashib to adorn their homes. Together we will tie our personal stories onto a long thread of ancient stories that connect us all, and we will see how a bundle of sticks, a few stakes, and some string can transform the world for the better.

Open to beginning weavers and more advanced students.

Students should be prepared for 4 intense days of weaving, using handmade looms. This style of weaving involves sitting on the ground, and may be challenging for students with back issues. Props, pillows and blankets will be provided to make this as comfortable as possible. Please visit our STAY page for a listing of local accomodations. Coffee, tea and snacks will be provided, students are responsible for his/her own lunch.

In this one-day workshop, students will create a one-of- a-kind embroidered pillow, using crewel embroidery techniques. Crewel embroidery is a form of free embroidery, in which one “paints” with stitches, using wool yarn and large areas of filling stitches to make a dense, textured design. Students will learn basic and advanced stitches, and can use one of several provided patterns or create their own. Each student will leave the workshop with an embroidered panel that is ready to be sewn into a pillow.

This four-week course meets every Thursday evening, teaching students the basics of weaving on a table-top rigid heddle loom. This is a great beginner’s loom that provides a complete weaving experience, while teaching skills and techniques that are transferable to other types of looms, including larger floor looms. Warping, weave structure, pattern and color will be the focus of this 4-week class. Students will be welcome to come in for open studio hours during the weekends, 10am-4pm.

Beat it out of the city and come explore the Oregon coastline, and the many dye plants that make their home in this coastal landscape! Students will learn to extract dye from plants, trees, flowers and weeds found along the roadsides, edges of beaches and nature preserves around Tillamook and Netarts Bay. Over the course of 2 days, we’ll learn to identify and sustainably harvest numerous dye plants, from manzanita and goldenrod to salal and oregon grape.The group will learn to mordant fibers, using sea water and cook down dye plants over fires built on the beaches. We will use non-toxic mordents and animal fibers (wool & silk) to create a journal of swatches and samples. In addition to discussing contemporary trends in natural dyeing, we will explore the history of natural dyes as used by Coast Salish Native peoples, learning which plants were prized for dying wools and other animal fibers.

Camping is reserved for the group at Cape Lookout State Park. Students are responsible for bringing tents and camping gear. Dinner is provided on Saturday evening. All other meals are the responsibility of each student. This workshop is ideal for those who are comfortable being outside in all weather, and are active, healthy and able-bodied. We will be hiking, processing plants outdoors and building fires on the beach. It can be rainy and windy at the Oregon Coast, even in the summer.

Come experience the beauty of fiber flax fields in bloom. This spring, Fibrevolution will be growing fiber flax in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. On day one, the group will meet in Sublimity, OR, for a tour of a working farm and flax field in bloom. Shannon Welsh will guide a hands-on exploration of fiber flax, with a demonstration on how to hand-process flax straw into a flax strick and then how to spin it into linen yarn. On day-two, at our Portland studio, students will learn how  to hand-process flax, creating a beautiful skein of yarn to take home. 

Students will be responsible for transportation back and forth from the farm on Day One, and to the Portland studio on Day Two. Information, directions etc. will be provided a week prior to the workshop.

In this 4-week workshop, students will be guided through several folk embroidery styles on the way to creating a hand-embroidered, tunic-style dress or top. Beginning with a study of embroidered samples and images from Mexico, Hungary, and other cultures, students will design and embroider their own tunics, incorporating their own stories into their pieces. After learning basic stitches, students will design the yoke of their tunics, and learn how to combine stitches to embroider the patterns and motifs of their choosing. Each student will finish the class with uniquely designed, hand-embroidered pattern pieces that they can assemble into a dress or tunic top at home.

Shibori is a traditional Japanese term that applies to the many methods of folding, wrapping, and clamping fabric to create geometric and organic resist patterns. These simple techniques yield surprisingly beautiful patterns when paired with the versatile and powerful dye, indigo. In this one-day workshop, students will learn a brief history of indigo dye, how to extract the most color and potency from the dye bath, and several shibori techniques. Students will leave with a shibori sample book and patterned piece of yardage.

Shibori is a traditional Japanese term that applies to the many methods of folding, wrapping, and clamping fabric to create geometric and organic resist patterns. These simple techniques yield surprisingly beautiful patterns when paired with the versatile and powerful dye, indigo. In this one-day workshop, students will learn a brief history of indigo dye, how to extract the most color and potency from the dye bath, and several shibori techniques. Students will leave with a shibori sample book and patterned piece of yardage.

In this weekend intensive, beginning students will learn how to design and construct knitted fabrics with a manually operated Brother Knitting Machine. Along with mastering basic operational knowledge of the knitting machine, emphasis will be placed on learning various knit construction techniques through sample-making and experimentation. Guided by color, texture, pattern, concept, and material research, students will create an extensive collection of knit swatches. Intermediate and advanced students will further explore punch cards with tuck stitch, lace, and/or knit weave patterning. Other techniques to be explored include shaping, knit cords, seaming, designing a shaped pattern, and other topics or requests raised by students. This workshop is hosted at teacher, Kayla Mattes' personal studio, beginning 6:30pm Friday night. The workshop will continue 10am-4pm Saturday & Sunday.

This one-day workshop will begin with a short lecture on necessary preparation steps for marbling fabric, including material tips, fabric treatment, and a demonstration on mixing a methocel-based marbling gel. After treating our fabrics, we will experiment with marbling on small scale cotton fabric swatches. These studies will help to finalize both the compositional and color decisions for the students’ finished yard of marbled fabric.

The Eastern edge of the Columbia River Gorge, with its dramatic cliffs, rolling grasslands, and windswept hillsides is barely two hours from Portland, Oregon – yet, when you are there, it feels a thousand miles away. The area is home to an abundance of native plants valuable to natural dyers, such as balsam root, lupine, juniper, and bitterbrush. This workshop explores both the landscape of the Eastern Gorge and its rich and unusual dye plants. Students will learn to mordant cotton, silk and wool, and create light-fast dyes using native and local plants.

Tapestry is a weaving technique used to create complex pictorial imagery. Instead of passing weft yarns across the entire width of the weaving, forms are built up vertically with multiple colors. In this class we will cover warping, the trials and errors of planning an image-based design, various tapestry techniques, weft shading, and finishing techniques. Students will leave with a completed pictorial wall hanging. This class is suitable for brave beginners and intermediate weavers. This workshop begins on Friday evening (6:30-9:30pm), at Kayla Mattes personal studio in SE Portland, and continues 10am-4pm both Saturday & Sunday. More details will be provided upon registration.

Extend the life of your clothing, while creating functional art and building vital and utilitarian sewing skills. This workshop series focuses on the multi-functional use of hand sewing to transform your well-loved threads into beautifully mended, unique pieces of clothing. Over the course of the class, you will learn how to turn the chore of mending into a creative act as we cover beginning hand-sewing techniques and a variety of hand-sewing stitches. We will dig deeper into the art of mending by incorporating Japanese Boro patchworking techniques, as well as learning how to work with a variety of fabrics. Bring a denim jacket, jeans, a tote bag, or anything else you want to add patchwork to.