Treasure Pouches woven by kids!

FestivALL in Charleston, WV was so much fun this past June. I had the pleasure of teaching weaving to children on cardboard looms I had made for them. 

What is GREAT is that some of the kids I taught have sent in photos. I also included other photos to show you what we did those fun days in late June.

In two days in I introduced approximately 120 children to weaving. That's a lot! I am so happy I was a part of FestivALL. It was a great experience and I would completely do it all over again!  Enjoy!

Completed Treasure Pouches! 

Made by Xander, 5-years-old, Charleston, WV

Made by Emma M., WV

Another made by Emma M., WV

Made by Maggie, 4-years-old, Lexington, KY

 

Here's some photos from two days of fun!

Setting up for the crowds!

My Mom measuring out some of the yarn.

Starting at the bottom of the loom and going around, up and over...

Here I am working with the kids and parents.

Kid working hard with their parents assisting.

Close up of a child weaving on the cardboard loom.

Working on the flap for the pouch! Very close to done.

A child working on the flap for the pouch. Almost done!

Ready to slip off the loom!

One of the kids stayed pretty much all day and here's what she did! 

Almost done! 

Completely finished. She had the biggest smile!

I'm back baby!

Oh, what a long hot summer this has been. I took the summer off blogging to spend with my kids at the pool, traveling and learning new fiber related arts. Had a lot of fun this summer and I am glad I had the opportunity to do what I did! 

At the beginning of summer I had the pleasure of working in the tents at FestivALL in my old stomping grounds of Charleston, WV. I taught kids how to weave Treasure Pouches on cardboard looms. I also had an optional project of hand-woven paper cards. I could not have done it with out the help from my mom and my sister-in-law Stephanie. We had a lot of fun in the humid, hot tents! My next two posts will focus what the kids made. I am so excited to share them.

School has begun for all my children and it's now time to get back to what I love. I am changing my focus a bit on this blog. I will be blogging about new things I have been working on for FibersStudio, projects I have planned and all the things that I am passionate about which includes some subjects that aren't fibers related. So you will be getting a bit larger view of my world.

Hope you have enjoyed your summer and getting ready to find projects to focus on in the shorter days with me. Are you ready?

Woven Cards for the Kids of FestivALL!

I am happy to have finally made an example of this woven card to show you. It's a great example of what the woven cards that kids of any age will be creating by hand at FestivALL! I am really excited to be working with the kids and this is a free activity in the Children's "Make and Take" tents. I will be demonstrating on Saturday the 26th of June from 10-6 and then on Sunday the 27th of June from 11-5 in Charleston, WV in front of the library downtown.

I start from a simple card that comes with an envelope. I then cut 1/2" inch slits horizontally in the card so you can weave paper vertically though them. I have cut the papers down to 1/2" strips. Here is the basic example:

I am also cutting a frame to go around the woven area. Or I may just cut paper so kids can glue stick four different papers around as a frame. Might be easier over all to just plan on the latter.

To also give it a nice finish there will be a blank sheet we place on the inside of the card to hide the woven paper from the inside.  Here is just a small example of the papers from which the kids get to choose.:

A lot of the papers are hand-made and have glitter, too. It's a fun and quick project that I hope just let's kids play with paper and learn to simply weave. You can use it as a thank you card, birthday card, etc.

Hope to see you there and can't wait to be in the tents!

Remembering Fall Wall Hanging - Hand-dyed wool yarn

When I was in grad school I had the wonderful experience of taking a spinning and dyeing class. What a world of information I learned, and was completely turned on to dyeing yarns. The class focused on wool, and I was amazed at the amount of colors we came up with. This is nothing new. People have been dyeing wool and other fibers for centuries, but what fun it was for me.

Here are some examples of what I learned. I created these cards as a recipe box to keep, and glad I did that I seeing I want to do this again soon!

Hand-dyeing yarn is a slow process, but a very rewarding one. You don't have to do a project like this one where I used many, many colors together. You can simply dye one skein of yarn and weave, knit or crochet a scarf or any project you choose! With dying your own yarn you get the exact color you like and that is the benefit once you know the technique of which natural dye to use. No one else's art will look like yours because you benefit from the knowledge you gained in dyeing wool. 

"Remembering Fall" is simply an elegant addition to your home. Creatively hand-woven in an eight-harness twill pattern. Each color has been dyed individually by me to achieve the color palette I desired. I designed the weaving as I wove it grabbing the color I thought I wanted to go next to the other and so forth. I finished the wall hanging by twisting the tassels.

The color palette is reminiscent of the soft dull hues of fall. Think of walking through a field, forest or along a pond for color inspirations for this art piece during an early fall day.

This should be hung in your stair well or on a wall away from direct sunlight or artificial light so that the colors do not fade. It could also be a wide table runner or placed over another piece of furniture like an upright piano as a runner. "Remembering Fall" was lovingly created to enhance your home and bring joy to your life every day.

The size of this wall hanging is 22" (approximately) x 72" (approximately - tassels included).

The Best Thing

The best thing happened to me on Saturday. A little guy (around 5 years of age) who I had taught cardboard weaving to came up to me at a rock concert for kids and told me how much he worked on his coin/treasure pouch project. His mom told me how much he really loved it! I was so happy to meet her and see the pride in her eyes. He finished it for his art show that he is having with his classmates in pre-K today. He even named his treasure pouch. How fun!

 

(In the picture I have removed the artist's name. You can still see what he has titled it and what his asking price is. This is a pre-K class and they are learning how to count money and give back change, etc. at their very own art exhibition. His parents will be "buying" this from him.)

 

I am enjoying teaching again. Just a little here and there. I don't have to get through to every child ~ not at all. This past Saturday I really did learn that a student I was teaching last Wednesday totally got into weaving.  This is what makes me happy and I am still smiling.

 

The fun thing about this coin/treasure pouch is that it involves several processes that are core to a child's everyday education. It teaches eye/hand coordination, planning ahead to the next step, the concept of opposites and then of course fine motor skill. It encourages concentration and focus. It is a project that shows the child instant results as they watch their weaving grow into what they are creating. They then begin to understand how something is made. Which then will lead to understanding and questioning how other things are created or made. Logic is never ever a bad thing. Right?


What I love most though is that this "technology" is as old as man practically. People have been weaving for a long, long time. It's a very simple process and yet it takes effort and persistence. Of course it came around because of necessity. People needed shelter over their heads, clothing on their bodies, and items to carry their goods or even babies in.

We take weaving for granted a lot today. Our jeans we wear are woven, not knitted. Most fabric for our furniture, sheets for our beds, curtains for our windows and even our tents are woven. So we still are using weaving in the same way, but today it is done for us. We do not have to create that which we need. We go buy it. Unless you are me and enjoy making what I want!

So, for me just planting some creative ideas into the minds of others in order to understand a process I am in love with ~ some would probably say obsessed with ~ gives me a lot of joy. Once you understand the process and master the technique then your creativity kicks in. New and beautiful things start to happen. Things you dreamed about creating now become reality and you can then share them with the world. This is what art is at it's core and what drives me.

Not too long ago I decided I would get back to what I love and I came up with some plans.  I am so glad I did. This little kid absolutely has made my year and stole my heart. I can't wait until I teach the next time to see what I learn from those I work with one on one. Then see what they create and take away from the project. Learning is life long and the best thing in my opinion.

An invitation to FestivALL's Children's Make and Take booths!

I am so very excited and honored. I was invited to teach in the "Make and Take" Children's booth for FestivALL.  The main word in that second sentence is "invited." There will be eight artists sharing with children their art.  What a GREAT way to get an art form out there to the public. I doubt that many children understand what weaving is or even what it takes to weave jeans that they wear all the time. So, educating the kids might lead to the love of weaving. You just never know and I am happy to be there to teach them.

I am now preparing 300 card board looms for the children ages 5 and above to weave their very own coin or treasure pouch! :) I am also creating paper greeting cards that children of any age will be weaving with paper. That way if they are not interested in the pouch or purse then they can still get some exposure to the art by the way of paper weaving.  It's nice to have a choice.

So, to make these looms I am cutting down old boxes and such that I have gathered.  Then scoring and folding in half, cutting notches every 1/4 inch to then put a warp on (that's the string that is on the cardboard loom above in the picture.)  This example in the picture is a little bigger than the ones I am making for FestivALL.

The weaving actually starts where the folded part is at the bottom of the loom. Then you go around the loom until you get to the top of the short folded section. You could weave a solid color, a stripe or any combo you can come up with. With a tapestry needle and your favorite yarn you can create any look you like.

This is one I am currently working on with some hand-spun, hand-dyed yarn I created a long while ago! It's very relaxing to go over and under the threads watching your weaving grow. And it's also a very quick project that a lot of kids find they enjoy.

When you can no longer go around the loom anymore, then you just go back and forth on the warp that is on the back of the loom until you get to the very top of the loom. This creates the flap that folds over the pouch.

What a fun way to learn to weave and even upcycle a bit with that cardboard you are getting ready to recycle anyway. This is a FREE event! The children are welcome to sit as long as they like with a parent assisting them at the booth creating this.  They will also get to take the loom home with them and all the yarn they need to finish up the project with instructions. If they like they can restring it at home and create another. The looms usually last for two or three projects.

Some may like to incorporate a button and loop for the pouch to have it close and stay closed. You can do this or leave it as is. You can use a blanket stitch around it and create a long loop for a handle to wear it around your neck also. Whatever you do with your design it is yours to play with.

Here is an example of one I made my daughter. She uses it each day to hold her special treasure she finds outside as she plays.

So I better get back to work on creating these for the children of FestivALL. I will be there on Saturday the 26th from 10am-6pm and Sunday the 27th from 11am-5pm. Come by the booth and visit with me and enjoy one of the projects I will be helping with! I would love to see you or even introduce you to something I love!

The never ending blanket!

Oh what a time I have had with this one. It's a gorgeous blanket and exactly what I wanted, but it took me almost 3 years to finish it!

I got the idea from my husband. He wanted a blanket that would cover him from head to toe and very soft. So, I found this great yarn that was fuzzy and wonderful on sale. I located my circular knitting needles and got started. I took it with me when I was waiting for my kid's therapy to be over, waiting for my kid to get out of school in the pick up line, and everywhere else when I had a break or time to knit for a bit.

So, why complain about it. Well, it really isn't the project that I disliked. It was the amount of time I was taking to do it. It's simply knitted and pearled. I reversed the stitches to create some pattern and switched out colors to create a random stripe to it. Really what it was is that I told my husband that I was making it for him and felt since I had told him that I should be doing the project fast.  I couldn't seem to stay on track with this project. So it drug out for a long while. He was patient and didn't complain, but I felt since I told him that I should be getting it done! ha! Well, I think my best procrastinating self took over.  Knitting a huge blanket is very warm...so knitting in warmer weather was out!

Long story short, it is done now. I still have some ends to sew in, but I can do that when the weather turns to crisp mornings again during football season! ha!

I do love the way it came out and now my husband can cover himself from his head to completely over his toes in comfort.