Once relegated to craft or decoration, fiber art has pushed far beyond the boundaries of traditional stitching and is now well-recognized as a form of fine art. The possibilities of creating art using fibers, textiles, paints, threads, and much, much more are endless,

In this four-day class, designed for the beginner or for the person with considerable fiber art experience, we’ll explore various approaches and fiber art skills including: fiber collage, dry needle felting; complex and simple embroidery stitching;  simple batik; and coil weaving.

This is an ambitious four- day class and it is hoped that we can learn the skills and have the time to produce a variety of projects including:  a fiber collage piece;  small coil-woven basket, embroidered piece; batik window hanging and a dry felted “painting.”

Here’s what the week will look like:

Day One:
– Begin part one of Easy Batik with the goal of creating a banner or flags by the the end of workshop (1hour)
– Begin The Art of Stitching with the goal of learning at least 12 embroidery stitches and incorporating them into an embellishment of shirt, jacket, handbag, etc.

Day Two:
– Part Two of Easy Batik (1hour)
– Continue stitching and learning other forms of surface embellishment – appliqué, reverse appliqué, patching, etc. Continue embellishment of garment
-Fiber Collage – using scraps and stitches and imagination we will build a textile collage with hand stitching, embroidery, printed cloth and more.

Day Three:
-Part Three of Easy Batik (half hour)
-Dry Felting on wool to create a picture and  dry felting on clothing.  We may also dry felt laundry balls and/or make a clever zipper felted pin.

Day Four
– Finish Easy Batik (1 hour)
-Coil Weaving using fiber rush, rope, threads to create a small basket or platter.
-Finish projects, celebrate!

(NOTE: IF you would prefer to focus on just one or two of these techniques during the workshop and explore more in-depth approaches to the skill, that is fine.)

Also – if any prospective students would like to inquire more about the pace and process of this class before registering, feel free to contact the instructor via e-mail at  jeannewey1@charter.net or text at 715-223-7859.

There will be PLENTY of in-class inspiration including samples, demos, books and other materials to help guide you as you create. When it comes to sewing, we will focus on hand-stitching. However, while a machine is not necessary please bring one if you wish.

Primarily, please bring a sense of adventure, a willingness to play, energy to experiment, a bit of fearlessness, good humor and a curiosity about the world of fiber art!