New England Weavers' Seminar
NEWS 2025
July 8 - 13, 2025
Westfield State University
Westfield, MA
Public registration begins Sunday, February 9.
Early registration for members of our ten participating guilds (see here
for a list) will begin Sunday, February 2. You must be a recognized member
of one of the guilds by January 1, 2025 to take advantage of this.
This is a weekly preview of planned course offerings.
Our program is still being finalized and changes are possible.
F1: Rep Weave - Books, Bags and Boxes
Instructor: Lucienne Coifman
1/2 day, Sunday, July 13, 8:30 am - 11:30 am, $80
Rep weave is a very linear weave whose rib structure lends itself easily to bending and folding into useful shapes. We will review the fundamentals of rep weave and explore how to build 3-dimensional pieces using special material. The last hour will be spent building a sewing needle case or etui. Each student will receive a bag containing all the necessary elements.
O4: A Scottish Weaving Sampler
Instructor: Melissa Weaver Dunning
3 day, Thursday, July 10, 1:30 pm -
Sunday, July 13, 11:30 am, $480
Experience several Scottish weaving traditions while you sample traditional tartans, tweeds and district check patterns. The timeless beauty of traditional Scottish tartans is so appealing and weaving colorful tartan is great fun. Tweed cloth has been woven in Scotland for centuries, using natural sheep colors and local plant dyes that imitate the colors of the heather hills. The earliest simple patterned cloth was the Shepherd's Check, from which many simple variations have been created. All the great houses of England's Borderlands and the Lowlands of Scotland eventually had tweed patterns that were woven in quantity to clothe their groundsmen, grooms and foresters; even Downton Abbey has a registered tweed pattern! This workshop includes a slide lecture on tartan and tweed history and instruction in translating tartan setts into warp plans. The round robin class will produce a notebook of samples for future independent exploration.
