Join us for knitting, spinning, crochet, and solving the world's big problems every Tuesday from 6-9 PM.  Adult beverages provided. 

Join us for a daytime Stitching session, also solving the big problems and providing help for fiber issues. Free, everyone welcome!

 Make Your Mark:A Slow Stitch Textile Collage Workshop  With Kathy Johnson.  Saturday, April 20, 2024.  11 AM-3:30 PM (with lunch break).  $150.00.  $50.00 deposit holds your space.  Call 203-245-5921 to register.   

Combine rust dyed-fabric, indigo-dyed fabric, rust-dyed thread and rusty bits of metal with slow stitching to create a one-of-a-kind textile collage. 

This workshop is suitable for all levels, no prior stitching/embroidery experience is needed. 

Explore the art of slow stitching and thread mark making using just one basic straight stitch. I’ll demonstrate pattern variations, which you can then experiment with on your test fabric piece. Use the shape of the metal pieces, and the patterns on the fabric as inspiration as you sketch out a few ideas for your slow stitch and collage compositions. Arrange the fabric and rusty metal pieces to form small collages and begin stitching them into place. While this is not an embroidery class, I'll guide you in making the perfect French knot. Yes, you can do it, really! It's fun and it's a great way to add texture and variation to your stitched pieces.   

You’ll also receive instructions in the class handout on how to rust-dye your own fabric and thread for future projects (plus access to my online class, 4 Techniques to Rust Dye Fabric, for one year).  I’ll share my favorite sources for finding fabrics, my favorite stitching books and a link to a secret Pinterest board I’ve curated that is packed full of slow stitch inspiration. We will end the class with time for some leisurely slow stitching. 

Your class kit includes:

* 1 - 11-inch square of rust dyed linen

* 4 rusty metal pieces

* 8 yards rust dyed 100% cotton thread - size 20

* 8 yards rust dyed 100% cotton thread - size 10

* 3 denim fabric pieces 

* 2 linen fabric pieces - not dyed

* 5 rust dyed linen fabric pieces*

* 3 indigo dyed fabric pieces*  

* 1 - 8-inch square of cotton muslin - for stitch practice 

* 3 embroidery needles - #2, #5, #8 

* 2 needle threaders 

* paper for sketching pattern ideas

* 1 skein light blue embroidery thread

-1 skein dark blue embroidery thread

Available for use during class will be straight pins, circles templates, scissors, an iron, several clear quilting rulers, and thermosensitive pens (Frixion pens)., pencils and rulers.

Feel free to bring any additional fabric pieces, rusty metal pieces, or thread colors you may want to use. 

Kathy Johnson, an artist from Waterford, CT, feels fortunate to have had the skills of embroidery, crewel and cross stitch taught to her at an early age by her grandmother. The discovery of the slow stitching movement several years ago brought the use of needle and thread back into her art practice. Stitching on repurposed fabrics that have been naturally dyed or rusted has become a relaxing nighttime ritual. She also enjoys incorporating stitching into works on paper such as her weekly Monday sketchbook collage which you can find on Facebook and Instagram (KathyJohnsonArt) and in the making of handmade books.

Join us for knitting, spinning, crochet, and solving the world's big problems every Tuesday from 6-9 PM.  Adult beverages provided. 

Join us for a daytime Stitching session, also solving the big problems and providing help for fiber issues. Free, everyone welcome!

LOCAL YARN STORE DAY AND SALE:  Saturday, April 27, 2024. 10 AM- 4 PM 

We are having a sale- save 20% on everything except classes and gift cards and consigned spinning equipment!  Includes in stock wheels and looms and the sale bin!   Plus enjoy new limited edition yarns and fibers from Wonderland Yarns and Frabjous Fibers dyed just for this day!  

Beginning Handspinning Intensive.   Sunday, April 28,  2024.  12-5 PM.  $100.00 includes fiber and drop spindle. With Dayna Mankowski and Mary Crosby .  $25.00 deposit holds your space.  Maximum- 4 students.   

If you would like to learn how to create unique yarn for your knitting or fiber projects, this class is for you. This workshop will teach: why wool spins into yarn, how to prepare wool for spinning, how to spin on a drop spindle and a spinning wheel.  Many types of wheels are available to try, and you will learn which type is right for you

Part 1: Will teach the basics of fiber preparation, drafting and spinning on a drop spindle

Part 2: will teach basic spinning on a spinning wheel, the types of spinning wheel (Scotch tension vs Irish tension, Single vs Double treadle, etc).   If you have your own wheel, please bring it. 

Join us for knitting, spinning, crochet, and solving the world's big problems every Tuesday from 6-9 PM.  Adult beverages provided. 

Join us for knitting, spinning, crochet, and solving the world's big problems every Tuesday from 6-9 PM.  Adult beverages provided. 

Join us for a daytime Stitching session, also solving the big problems and providing help for fiber issues. Free, everyone welcome!

Join us for knitting, spinning, crochet, and solving the world's big problems every Tuesday from 6-9 PM.  Adult beverages provided. 

Join us for a daytime Stitching session, also solving the big problems and providing help for fiber issues. Free, everyone welcome!

Learn to Weave on The Rigid Heddle Loom.  $125.00 ($25.00 deposit holds your space).  Bring your own loom or use one of ours (limit 5 students). Saturday, May 18, 2024 . 10 AM- 4 PM. Call 203-245-5921 to register.

Max of 4 students without looms. *Includes the use of loom and all materials; if you have your own loom, please bring it*. Learn how to weave on the Ashford Knitter’s Loom (or other rigid heddle loom)!.  This portable, easy to use rigid heddle loom provides an infinite amount of design possibilities. It is called the Knitter’s Loom because it is a great way to use your left over yarns from knitting projects. If you have your own rigid heddle loom, feel free to bring it!

Have you ever looked at a beautifully woven item and thought, “I wish I could create something like that?” then this class is for you. Rigid heddle loom weaving is simple to learn and offers an extraordinary range of creativity. In this workshop students will learn basic weaving terminology and techniques and be weaving in no time. You will weave a sample which will teach different weaving patterns and allow for exploration with color and texture. If you’re a knitter or spinner this is a great way to use up your stash! You will be surprised by how a small loom can inspire the fiber artist in you. 

Lunch break - feel free to bring your own lunch, we have a refrigerator and microwave, plus water, snacks and tea.  Local restaurants available too.  

Special Topics in Rigid Heddle Loom Weaving:  Finger-Controlled Weaves.  With Susan Snider.  Sunday, May 19, 2024.  11 AM- 3 PM.  $75.00.  $25.00 deposit holds your space.  Call 203-245-5921 to register.   

Looking to expand your weaving skills or add a highlight, accent or unique feature to your project?  This special topic workshop will explore weaving techniques such as lace weaves, danish medallions, loops, hemstitching and more. These techniques are versatile and effective and done by hand. Students will bring a warped loom ready to begin weaving and have basic weaving skills.  There will be time for project design and planning.  

Required for class:  Loom warped at least 6" wide at 7.5 to 10 EPI in wool or cotton.  Yarn for weaving included. 

Join us for knitting, spinning, crochet, and solving the world's big problems every Tuesday from 6-9 PM.  Adult beverages provided. 

Join us for a daytime Stitching session, also solving the big problems and providing help for fiber issues. Free, everyone welcome!

Join us for knitting, spinning, crochet, and solving the world's big problems every Tuesday from 6-9 PM.  Adult beverages provided. 

Join us for a daytime Stitching session, also solving the big problems and providing help for fiber issues. Free, everyone welcome!

 Sashiko Visible Mending Workshop. With Rachel Barclay.  Saturday, June 15, 2024.  12-3 PM.  $90.00.  $25.00 holds your space.  Call 203-245-5921 to register.  Price includes mending kit. 

Visible Mending celebrates resourcefulness and sustainability by showcasing hand stitching rather than hiding it. This workshop will highlight the act of mending and textile repair with Sashiko Japanese Embroidery. With humble beginnings in rural Japan, Sashiko’s running stitch insulated work garments for warmth and longevity. Moving into contemporary times around the globe, the bold, geometric beauty of Sashiko continues to both strengthen and decorate fabrics.

Students will learn how to patch a rip or hole, reinforce a worn area, and prepare their distressed textile in order to stitch a Sashiko pattern of their choice.

Bring in one or two garments to assess for mending or decorating. Ideally, areas to repair will be no larger than four inches. Medium-weight, woven cotton fabrics work best; such as denim jeans, cotton or linen shirts, pants, cotton dresses.

Please bring in a couple garments from home to assess for mending, good reading glasses, snips or small scissors.

Each mending kit will include a pair of Sashiko needles, a tapestry needle threader, fabric for each class, and take home pattern instructions. Instructor will provide communal Sashiko threads, fabric markers, pencils, stencils, templates, and rulers.

Rachel Barclay studied Textiles, Installation Sculpture, Printmaking, and Elementary Education in San Francisco and Long Beach, California. Throughout her journey as a creator, educator, and parent, she has focused on making functional sewn and embellished garments, and mixed media textile objects. After learning Sashiko and Visible Mending with Jessica Marquez of Miniature Rhino, Rachel embraced the hand-work practice as an act of mindfulness, empowerment, beauty, and sustainability. She continues to study online with Kazue Yoshikawa of Sashiko Lab in Kyoto, Japan. Rachel shares her joy of hand-stitching with adults and children, alike, teaching workshops in Sashiko Basics, Sashiko Embroidered Tea Towels and Table Runners, and Visible Mending.  She lives in a small Connecticut town alongside her woodworking spouse and their two young adult offspring. Follow her creative process on Instagram @rachelharrietteb.

Natural Dye Rainbow.  With Jackie Ottino Graf.  Saturday, June 29, 2024.  10 AM- 4 PM.  $175.00.  $50.00 deposit holds your space.  Call 203-245-5921 to register.   

Nature offers us all the colors of the rainbow- we just need to figure out how to get them onto our fibers! This workshop is perfect for the absolute beginner to the more experienced dyer looking to learn a few new tricks. Dyeing wool yarn, we will work with 8-10 different dyestuffs in several forms: wood shavings, fresh plant material, dried plant material, insects, roots, extracts….and create around 15 colors. 

We will go over fiber selection and prep, proper mordanting, and how to maximize our efforts for deep rich colors. 

Materials fee covers all yarn, dyes and handouts. You will leave with at least 15 mini skeins, enough for a small project!

Please bring note taking materials and a way to bring your wet yarns home with you such as plastic bags or a basin. Please also bring everything you may need to be comfortable with a day outside: sunscreen, food/drinks, knitting etc. 

Indigo Happy Hour!  With Jackie Ottino Graf.  Sunday, June 30, 2024.  10 AM- 2 PM.  $80.00.  $25.00 deposit holds your space.  Call 203-245-5921 to register. 

Indigo is a plant based blue dye originating in India and prized for centuries for its ability to produce fast deep blues on all fibers. Indigo has been traditionally used in many cultures as a dye, from Japanese to African, each culture lending its own patterns and techniques. 

In this informal workshop we will build a simple Indigo vat and get into all the blue we can handle. I will provide unlimited indigo, some materials for creating patterns on fabric and yarn and show you everything I know. We will go over lots of details about the care and feeding of indigo but mostly this is just party time. 

You should bring: approximately 2 pounds of anything you want to be blue. Indigo will dye all fibers: cotton/linen/hemp and wool/silk/alpaca. Consider yarn (undyed or previously dyed) raw (clean) fibers, smaller pieces of clothing like t shirts, dresses, leggings, linens like napkins or fabric yardage. 

Please also bring at least one shallow basin such as an aluminum roasting pan or dish pan for catching blue items and for transport home.