What's New at Thistle Hill Weavers

Explore Weave Structures: Designing and Drafting for Hand Weavers

January 9, 2023

Saturday and Sunday February 18-19, 2023
at Thistle Hill Weavers
143 Baxter Rd Cherry Valley NY 13320

This is a basic drafting course for hand weavers. Learn to recognize, develop and design your own work in several different weave structures.

The goal of the class is to teach the fundamentals of weave structure including spot, block structures, complex twills, crepe weave and satins.

When we understand weave structures, we can design fabric that is both beautiful and functional. This is an opportunity to explore how different weave structures affect drape, durability and surface texture.

Explanations of weavers’ drafts, both modern and historic, will serve as teaching tools for understanding how to draft patterns. Students will then design in several different structures and then have the opportunity to develop their own patterns to use in their own weaving.

The class will be taught by Rabbit Goody at Thistle Hill Weavers and is intended for weavers of any level who wish to understand more about weave structures.

The class starts with basic skills of reading weavers’ drafts and translating patterns into several weave structures. Students will then design a project for their own looms using different structures.

This is a theory class rather than a weaving class but looms will be set up with a few different structures to demonstrate different aspects of structure.

Cost for the weekend is $175.00
Lunch and materials are included
Saturday and Sunday February 18-19, 2023
9:30am – 4:30pm both days.

For more information or to register, please contact us.

Call For Papers: Textile History Forum 2023

October 10, 2022

Call For Papers: Textile History Forum 2023
Friday, July 21 – Sunday, July 23, 2023
Lone Rock Farm
Marshfield, Vermont

The Textile History Forum is an academic meeting for textile enthusiasts, researchers, and textile producers that seeks give a voice to current research outside of strictly academic confines. The Textile History Forum brings together textile historians, students, researchers, museum curators, independent scholars, artisans, dealers and collectors Research papers are published in the Proceedings available the day of the Forum. Authors retain copyright on all printed publications and are free to publish their work in other venues.

The Textile History Forum seeks papers and presentations on all aspects of textile history from the Pre-Columbian period through the twenty-first century, including textile
technology, costume, quilts, weaving, dyeing, spinning, technological innovations and textile availability. The Forum is looking to include additional aspects of material culture i.e. how textiles fit into their cultural and social places, how textiles are valued, ceremonial use of textiles and the individuals who made and used them.

The Textile History Forum encourages the submission of scholarly work from historians, anthropologists and economists as well as independent researchers, individuals working the field, crafts people and collectors. Current and unpublished research is especially encouraged. Those interested in presenting a paper at the Forum should submit a one-page proposal. In addition to formal paper presentations, those interested in presenting a “work-in-progress” are also encouraged to submit a few paragraphs about their work. The Works-in-progress sessions are short presentations and no written paper is required.

Please encourage others to share their research with us. Thank you!

The Fabric of Everyday Life :Dish Rags to Silk to Silk Damask: A Weekend of Textiles at Hyde Hall

July 5, 2022

A Weekend of Textile Exploration at Hyde Hall
September 17th and 18th, 2022.

The household at Hyde Hall used hundreds of yards of cloth between 1817 and 1835, some of it woven locally for everyday use and much of it imported for furnishing textiles.

Hyde Hall provides an incredible backdrop for this exploration because it has a wealth of textiles that survive and George Clarke wrote detailed receipts for the purchase of carpet, drapery and household linens.

This weekend will explore all the fabric necessary to run an elaborate household before paper towels. We will examine surviving pieces from the collection and also look at everyday towels, sheets, blankets and yes, dish cloths.

The session will put into context how the everyday textiles that we take for granted were the necessary fabric of everyday life.

We will meet in the new education space – the woodshed – for these sessions, and we will have a special dinner in the Dining Room at Hyde Hall with music on Saturday evening.

Saturday September 17th, 9:30 to 4:00 with dinner at 6:30pm
Sunday September 18th: 9:30 – 4:00pm

Registration includes lunches and dinner
Registration fee $275.00
Space is limited to 20 people

For more information, please contact us.

Two Upcoming Textile Workshops

March 3, 2022

Saturday, June 11, 2022: Join me for a behind-the-scenes tour of coverlets in the collection of the New York State Museum.

This one-day workshop is designed for textile historians and weavers and is an opportunity to see several very special coverlets from the New York State Museum collection. We will examine and discuss coverlets and also tour the textile storage facility.

The workshop will be limited to 15 students and will be an active hands-on discussion of the weave structures, the weaving equipment, the provenance and the place that these coverlets have in 19th century material culture. If you have an interest in coverlets, this is a good opportunity to meet with others and share knowledge and to examine coverlets that have not been available on exhibit.

Workshop Cost is $50 for the day. Lunch is on your own. Bring a bag lunch or visit the food court in the Empire Plaza.

Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3: Designing and Drafting Weave Structures Workshop at Thistle Hill Weavers.

This two-day short course is aimed at helping weavers understand the practical aspects and application of block weave structure. If you are a weaver and want to know how to design, this workshop is for you!

This class teaches the theory of blocks and allows students to develop their own patterns in different weave structures. We will be designing block patterns and fitting appropriate weave structures into those designs. The structures we will be working with are float work (overshot), summer and winter, double cloth, twill blocks, spot weave and damask.

This class will meet from 10am to 4pm both days. Class is limited to 8 students. Cost for this class is $125 and includes lunch both days.

Please contact us for more details or to register.

Thistle Hill Weavers Holiday Open House

November 23, 2021

Come visit our working studio on Saturday, December 11 and Sunday, December 12, 10am – 4pm – we would love to have you stop by.

You can see the mill working, eat some snacks and buy some of our fabrics, scarves, shawls and hand towels!

We want to show you our old machines and our workshop.

This year we are very busy trying to complete orders for our clients and production must continue. We will not set up a formal showroom, but please come and see what we are working on, meet our new staff members and enjoy the holiday season.

What We’ve Been Doing and the Upcoming Holiday Season

October 26, 2020

Greetings,

We hope that this email finds you as safe and as healthy as you can be.

Thistle Hill Weavers is continuing to create fabrics but to keep our staff as safe as possible we have been working split shifts and with a smaller staff.

There are some new faces that I hope in the future you will meet, and we have said goodbye to some of our good friends who have worked with us over the past years.

Some really interesting projects have been ongoing these past few months

We are still working on The Gilded Age which is an HBO production. Jodi Zanetti, of Z Stitches, is now well trained on our embroidery equipment.

The trailer for Jingle Jangle has been released; it looks like fun! We wove four fabrics that are seen in the trailer.

We finished the large project for the Church of Latter Day Saints at Nauvoo, Illinois, and now we are working on another project in Salt Lake City.

The Emily Dickinson House in North Hampton Massachusetts will be new project over the next year and there are several projects for Hyde Hall.

We continue to work with designers for sustainable fabric development.

Our farm clients who produce fiber are very active as well. Harmony Fields in Oregon has beautiful throws and table runners made from their wool. Amy Crate of True Vine Farm is developing alpaca products, and Franny Kansteiner of Gun Tree farm is working on some incredible tweeds for the upcoming season incorporating her wonderful merino wool spun at Green Mountain Spinnery with silk and bamboo.

But what should we do about the Holiday Open House?

We are in the same quandary as everyone else. We want you to enjoy our mill and pick out nice interesting gifts but we also want everyone to stay safe and healthy.

We would invite local folks to make an appointment to come visit during the weeks before Christmas starting December 5th. We will be available on weekdays and weekends by appointment. We will limit the number of people at a time and during the entire day. We will ask you to wear a mask and we will take your temperature before you enter the building. We will not give mill tours at this time.

If you live at a distance rather than travel, check out the on-line store which we will get up and running especially for the season. Please call to chat with us about things you see on-line. We understand it is hard to buy textiles on line, but this year is different and we want our staff to stay safe and healthy and our clients to be happy.

If you have suggestions or you know ahead of time that you may want something special, now is the time to get us going. We hope to hear from you and we look forward to being a part of your gift giving.

We offer you our sincere appreciation for your support and we know that everyone is coping as best they can.

Hail to the Skillful Cunning Hand, Hail to the Cultured Mind,
Contending for the World’s Command, Here Let Them Be Combined

Textile History Forum YouTube Channel

May 2, 2020

We’ve started a YouTube channel for our collection of historic fabrics. You can subscribe from the YouTube page.

February 15th and 16th at Thistle Hill Weavers – A Two-Day Workshop on Double Cloth, Double Width and Layers on Layers

February 7, 2020

Sorry for the late notice but there are still a few places in my weekend workshop

This weekend workshop will explore how fabrics can be made in layers for structure, design or expanded width. This is NOT a project workshop.

A basic knowledge of weaving is important, but you do not have to own a multiple harness loom. The participants will have the opportunity to try many different systems and understand the technical aspects of creating layers of cloth in different structures.

The class will be working on different types of looms already set up to demonstrate several different layered systems. Students will be able to take samples home but the main part of the class will be theoretical, exploring weave structure, density and layering concepts.

This is a two-day workshop:

Class begins at 9:00 on Saturday, February 15th and ends at 4:30pm
Sunday February 16th class begins at 9:00 and ends at 3:30.
Fee for the class is $150.00 and includes lunch both days.

Call For Papers for the 2020 Textile History Forum

February 7, 2020

The 2020 Textile History Forum, scheduled for July 31 – August 2 at Hyde Hall, Springfield NY, & Thistle Hill Weavers, Cherry Valley NY, seeks papers and presentations on all aspects of textile history, from the Pre-Columbian period through the twenty-first century, including textile technology, costume, quilts, weaving, dyeing, spinning, technological innovations and textile availability.

For this year’s Forum, we are looking to include additional aspects of material culture i.e. how textiles fit into their cultural and social places, how textiles are valued, ceremonial use of textiles and the individuals who made and used them.

An important aspect of this year’s Forum will be a discussion of where and how private textile collections should be housed over the next several decades.

Those interested in presenting a paper at the Forum should submit a one-page proposal. Authors retain copyright on all printed publications and are free to publish their work in other venues.

The Textile History Forum brings together textile historians, students, researchers, museum curators, independent scholars, artisans, dealers and collectors from around the country for three days of intense exchange. Participants will have the opportunity to take a behind the scenes tour of the Hyde Hall textile collection. This collection is unparalleled in its surviving early damasks, trims, tassels and ornamental drapery hardware.

Forum participants will also have the opportunity to examine the hand textile tools located in the storage facility of the Farmer’s Museum in Cooperstown, NY.

Please encourage others to share their research with us.

Please join us for our Holiday Open House!

November 12, 2019

Friday, December 6, Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 8
From 9am to 5pm each day

Watch our antique looms run!
Listen to the noise and watch those gears!
Enjoy some holiday cheer!