Courses

Discover the magic of “painting with beads” through your choice of seven different signature beaded lapel pin projects. In a reflection of the art and craft of bead embroidery, artist Jo Wood will lead you through your choice of one or two bead-embroidered projects, time permitting. The birch tree pin…

Brightly-colored seed beads have been used to embellish and brighten clothing and homegoods for centuries. Learn to make a beaded doily in this short class and experiment with color and pattern repetition to create a unique piece. Beadwork artist Marcie McIntire will provide instruction and materials for creating these lovely…

Crocheting, knitting, tatting, and needle lace focus on a single thread to construct lace. Bobbin lace making is one of the traditional forms of making lace and is the only technique to use multiple threads concurrently to create lace. The technique has some similarities to weaving but is made on…

Autumn brings a riot of color to the landscape of the North Shore. This workshop is your opportunity to capture a bit of the season with beads. Each participant will bring an autumn image to inspire their design. From your image you will create a unique “bead painting” embroidered on…

This is a good introduction to felting for those just looking to get started and a fun day for those who have some experience but want to expand their needle-felting and wet-felting skills. We will be making flat items of use or just beauty.  Using a needle-felting tool is a…

This course is an intensive introduction to the ancient textile fiber: flax; and the cloth made from flax: linen. Students will explore all aspects of this traditional material, from seed selection, planting and cultivation, through harvesting, retting, hand processing, spinning, and weaving. We discuss flax’s place in traditional hand textile…

Capture summer color onto paper. We will steam a bounty of garden and wild flowers between layers of paper. Explore folding, design, and layering methods, then into the steam box the offering goes. Students will bind a 5"x8" notepad while we wait for the thrill of unwrapping bundles of color.

It may never have occurred to you, but puppets and oven mitts are very closely related. They are both made of colorful wool, both are wet felted around a resist, and with a little imagination, they both can talk. Is an oven mitt just a shy puppet or is a…

The three-strand wool braided rug is reminiscent of an era when rag rugs were considered an affordable way to reuse worn clothing and blankets to create a rug for the home.  Early American immigrants and rural pioneers handcrafted the rag rug and created a fiber tradition that has been passed…

This class is an enjoyable, two-day beginning knitting class that focuses both on basic stitches and skills, and on recognizing and correcting common mistakes that often frustrate the beginner. Topics include essential knitting skills, yarn basics, and pattern reading. You will be provided with a introductory book, one pair of…

Inkle looms are a great way to get started with weaving: they require little additional equipment, are easy to use and to understand, and are easily stored. Specially designed to be used for making strong, patterned bands, inkle looms are used for weaving belts, laces, bookmarks, guitar and other instrument…

Many of the plants which we now consider invasive species were brought to this country for a purpose. This workshop explores several invasive plants which can be used as natural dyes. There's no guilt about peeling off the bark or pulling up the whole plant to make these dye baths!…

Learn how to knit and embroider a mitten in the Swedish Lovikka style. Lovikka is a town located near the Arctic Circle with a renowned tradition of Sami-inspired embroidered embellishments, including a braided tassel. This mitten is knit in the round on double-pointed needles using a single ply yarn. The…

Kumihimo is an ancient Japanese technique used to make beautiful cords. Historically, the most complex forms were used as a functional embellishment on samurai armour. Today, it's more common to use kumihimo cords to embellish your arm as beaded bracelet. Students will learn how to braid on a kumihimo disk,…

Elegant knit lace can enhance many projects, whether it is sewn on the edge of a garment, brightening the corner of a simple knit accessory, or taking center stage as a shawl. Expand your knitting repertoire by exploring new techniques that will allow you to add flourish to basic projects…