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Two or Three Day Workshops with Bonnie Inouye
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"Bonnie was able to teach me more in three days than all the designers I've known and all the books I've read on hand weaving in the last ten years. Just because we were together and could confirm our mutual understanding. And maybe partly because I am now ready to receive that teaching but mostly because she is an excellent teacher." --Michael Davis, writing to WeaveTech email list in April of 2003
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1. The Big Twill 2 or 3 day, on-loom workshop
Twills have a nice hand, they drape well and wear well, and they are quick to
weave. We make an enormous twill gamp together, using workshop looms during the
breaks between lectures. Learn about designing with twills, large scale or fine
thread designs, advancing twills, network drafted twills (my own approach),
snowflake twills, advancing points, and more. I provide threadings in advance,
each loom having a different threading. The group can include some 4-shaft looms but designs are easier to see with 8 or more shafts. These same threadings can also be used for double weave, lace weaves, shadow weave, rugs, and more.
People who have been weaving a year or two can learn a lot, but this experience was designed intermediate weavers and includes advanced concepts as well. At the end of the last day we examine all the samples. Every sample is unique, and I use them to teach principles of fabric design and encourage other weavers to make their own drafts. I have lots of material for 3 days on this, and the 2 day version tries to cram in as much as possible.
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The photo above, taken by Dale Wilson, shows
some of the samples woven by the St Louis guild during their workshop in
February, 2000.
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2. Autumn and Springtime: beyond
summer and winter
Weave pictures without tapestry or inlay, using 8 or more shafts. Start with
a profile draft and block substitution, then add shadings, fine lines, and
details, then work on developing longer designs. Weave a logo, a name, an
animal, or place graphics on fabric for clothing. Summer and winter threadings
can be used for lace weaves, rugs, turned drafts, woven on opposites, as
polychrome, and taquete. An on-loom workshop for 8 or more shafts, each weaver
stays at her own loom. Weavers need to bring graph paper and pencil or a
computer. I will bring my laptop and I need a data projector
to use for demonstrations. Instruction will cover several weaving techniques and also designing for special projects. 3 days only
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3. Opposites Attract Create bold, colorful designs that emphasize your warp yarn with parallel (opposite) threadings. Echo weave and turned taquet� are a wonderful choices for two or more warp colors and a single weft. Compare woven examples and learn tips for weaving, sett, and yarn choice. Taquet� has a long history and echo weave is modern. Both are wonderful for shawls, scarves, garments, and art pieces. On the same warp, make samples of warp rep and an exciting kind of double weave that produces four colors with two shuttles. Explore these structures while learning methods for creating your own designs for the fabric of your dreams, including drafts with curves and organic shapes. 3 or 4 days, intermediate through very advanced, mainly for weavers using 8 and more shafts but a few 4-shaft looms may be used in the workshop. For a 2-day workshop, I will teach turned taquet� and/or echo weave.
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4. Advance!
Explore a nifty technique for producing long but easily remembered sequences,
great for threadings and/or treadlings. Blocks and curves in many weaves can advance or descend. These blocks usually overlap, giving soft edges to lines of design. Explore advancing: twills, overshot, point twills, network drafted sequences, crackle, and echo weave. Blocks can advance by many steps or just a few, with varied effects. These threadings work with many tie-ups and treadlings to make large-scale drafts with very big design potential. Intermediate to advanced level; work at your own loom. Teaching is at the 8-shaft level; some workshop looms may have 4 but treadling options are more limited with only 4 shafts. Looms with more than 8 are welcomed. 3 days, or 2 with fewer structures.
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5. Design with Textures
Flowing curves add movement to woven designs. Compare several different techniques for weaving three-dimensional fabrics with the added challenge of creating curves in the design. Your samples will include cloth with decorative ridges on one face, with puffy designs on the front and back, and puffs with flat fabric on the reverse. Make stretchy fabrics with the desired amount of elasticity, and inelastic fabrics with raised or fuzzy design areas. My emphasis is on forms of double weave and stitched double cloth. Intermediate through very advanced level. Workshop looms with 8 or more shafts, for shared use. 3 to 5 days. Materials fee: $5.00 (for special weft yarns)
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6. The Big Overshot 2 or 3-day, on-loom
Overshot is a familiar traditional weave associated with sweet patterns.
What happens when this twill-based structure meets all the new concepts coming
from twills? Advancing overshot is one way to make large-scale designs without
increasing the length of the floats. Explore the advantages of overshot and give
an old friend a new place to grow. We will use new, decidedly nontraditional
threadings with many different tie-up and treadling options. Overshot
threadings are great for collapse fabrics, loom-controlled shibori, velveteen,
deflected double weave, honeycomb,lace, and swivel. For intermediate to advanced weavers using 8 or more shafts at home, this workshop can accept some 4-shaft looms. Work at your own loom.
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7. Creative Drafting with FiberworksPCW
Learn the basics of this powerful weaving software. I have been using it since 1990 and can show you the easiest way to get started, plus lots of short-cuts. A computer classroom in a school or college or workplace is ideal for this workshop. Each participant should have a computer, and I need a data projector for my laptop. This can be a 2-day or 3-day workshop. I also teach a 1-day workshop, Introduction to FiberworksPCW, and a 1-day Power with FiberworksPCW on power tricks and tips for FiberworksPCW. I offer individual tutoring with FiberworksPCW and also with WeavePoint, exchanging drafts with students on the Internet while talking by phone or Skype or email, for $30 per hour.
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8. Loom-Controlled Imagery 3-day, on-loom
Weave images without pick-up, inlay, or a Jacquard loom. Compare different weave structures to see how the interlacement compliments the image. Explore the difference between warp-faced images, weft-faced, or balanced weaves. Work with profile drafts and add details and shading. Weave words, motifs, and landscapes. Combine woven imagery with painted or printed warps or wefts. Samples will help you explore summer and winter, polychrome tied weaves, taquete, swivel, turned versions of each of these techniques,and also imagery with network drafted twills. 3-day workshop, Advanced-intermediate through very advanced. Looms must have at least 8 shafts, and the drafts are for table, dobby, or computer-assisted looms. Laptop may be substituted for loom if you are comfortable using your weaving software, and shared computer-assisted looms are good.
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Workshop Fees are $400 per day for two days of teaching in one location, $350 per day for three or more days, plus transportation, housing, and meals.
Write to [email protected] for more information.
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