I've loved art since I was a child and always gravitated to more tactile, three dimensional art. In college, I was introduced to fiber arts through the internet. On my meager college budget, I bought a drop spindle and some wool and figured out how to spin yarn. I learned how to process raw wool and about other fibers, their properties, how to prepare them, dye them and make them into yarn. After college, I took a bit of a break with spinning and learned how to sew. What I had learned while spinning, the properties of different fibers, helped me while sewing to have a better idea of what fabrics would be best for which uses. When I started having children, I became interested in making toys. It lead to an interest in felting. I learned about wet felting and needle felting. Last year I learned how to crochet and started making amigurumi. I began to think about how fun it would be to share my love of fiber arts and teach a class to children. I suggested the idea to some of the moms at Denton Classical Co-op and they were extremely supportive of the idea. I began reading books and started writing the curriculum. Early this year, I achieved a long time dream and bought my first spinning wheel, a used Mach1. I also bought 2 rigid heddle looms and 2 tapestry style looms to use in the classroom. I will give them their own post, but wanted to thank Schacht Spindle Company for giving me a discount on the weaving looms we will be using, and Knit Picks for donating most of the yarn we will be using for the class.
The fiber arts are such a fun and exciting way to connect to history. Only in the past fifty to two hundred years have people become wholly disconnected with the process of making cloth and all the many things cloth is used for. Historically, only food production took more time and effort than textile production. But, while many school children can explain where fruit, vegetables and even meat come from, if you ask how their shirt, dress or pants were made, you will get a lot of blank looks. In archeological digs, spindle whorls are one of the most prolific items found anywhere people lived. Middle age and Renaissance art show many pictures of women of all social levels spinning in a variety of settings. Textile arts were practiced by everyone, peasant women spun, but so did royalty. While spinning was mostly accomplished by women and children, weaving, especially in later years was mostly accomplished by men. Both men and women knit and the earlier art of felting was often a group activity for families and villages. Extremely skilled artists made beautiful wall hangings for castles, but even the simplest peasant shift showed hours upon hours of work, spinning, weaving and sewing to make the garment. I hope to help the children feel this deep connection with our past over the course of this year's class. I also hope to help the children find a new way to express their creativity and ideas, making simple and often useful objects for this year's art class.
For the 3rd and 4th graders we will follow a historical progression of how the fiber arts developed. I will start with introducing plant fibers and rope, then introduce wool, talking about processing and felting. We will then move to spindle spinning with wool. We will talk about cotton and silk and their historic significance. I will introduce more exotic fibers and current man made fibers. We will dye the wool yarn the children make and then use it to weave. We will weave several different projects and learn weaving terminology like warp, weft and shed. The children will get a chance to try loom knitting and crochet.
For the 1st and 2nd graders there will be less emphasis on history and no real historic progression. The first semester will be focused on weaving and loom knitting while the second semester will be mostly felting projects. The class will give them a chance to make a lot of fun and useful art pieces.
I hope to use this blog to track the classes' progress and share with parents and others what is going on in the classroom so they can hopefully practice these skills at home and beyond.
The fiber arts are such a fun and exciting way to connect to history. Only in the past fifty to two hundred years have people become wholly disconnected with the process of making cloth and all the many things cloth is used for. Historically, only food production took more time and effort than textile production. But, while many school children can explain where fruit, vegetables and even meat come from, if you ask how their shirt, dress or pants were made, you will get a lot of blank looks. In archeological digs, spindle whorls are one of the most prolific items found anywhere people lived. Middle age and Renaissance art show many pictures of women of all social levels spinning in a variety of settings. Textile arts were practiced by everyone, peasant women spun, but so did royalty. While spinning was mostly accomplished by women and children, weaving, especially in later years was mostly accomplished by men. Both men and women knit and the earlier art of felting was often a group activity for families and villages. Extremely skilled artists made beautiful wall hangings for castles, but even the simplest peasant shift showed hours upon hours of work, spinning, weaving and sewing to make the garment. I hope to help the children feel this deep connection with our past over the course of this year's class. I also hope to help the children find a new way to express their creativity and ideas, making simple and often useful objects for this year's art class.
For the 3rd and 4th graders we will follow a historical progression of how the fiber arts developed. I will start with introducing plant fibers and rope, then introduce wool, talking about processing and felting. We will then move to spindle spinning with wool. We will talk about cotton and silk and their historic significance. I will introduce more exotic fibers and current man made fibers. We will dye the wool yarn the children make and then use it to weave. We will weave several different projects and learn weaving terminology like warp, weft and shed. The children will get a chance to try loom knitting and crochet.
For the 1st and 2nd graders there will be less emphasis on history and no real historic progression. The first semester will be focused on weaving and loom knitting while the second semester will be mostly felting projects. The class will give them a chance to make a lot of fun and useful art pieces.
I hope to use this blog to track the classes' progress and share with parents and others what is going on in the classroom so they can hopefully practice these skills at home and beyond.
