classes and workshops

classes

The Handweavers Studio & Gallery now runs regular weaving classes in addition to an extensive workshop programme. These classes are suitable for all levels of weaving experience, from those who have recently completed a beginning weaving workshop right through to those wanting the support of a teacher while undertaking advanced studies.

weekly daytime weaving classes with Bobbie Kociejowski

Thursdays, 10:00 - 12:30 and 1:30 - 4:00
(Students may register for either the morning or the afternoon session, or for a full day)
12 weekly classes 7 January - 1 April (half term 18 February)
£130 per term half day, £250 per term full day

weekly evening weaving classes with Charlotte Grierson

Wednesdays, 6:00 - 8:30
12 weekly classes 6 January - 31 March (half term 17 February)
£130 per term

If you are interested in joining a class, please phone us (020 7272 1891) or email courses@handweavers.co.uk. Depending on space, it may be possible to join part way through a term.

workshops

We run a wide range of workshops, including regular introductory workshops in weaving, tapestry weaving, spinning, felting, and dyeing, and more specialist workshops for those wanting to build on prior experience, pursue a particular interest, or explore a new aspect of a craft.

To check availability and book a place on a workshop, please phone us (020 7272 1891) or email courses@handweavers.co.uk. If there is space we will ask you for a deposit (non-refundable) to secure your place, with the balance payable fifteen days before the workshop.

Sat 16 - Sun 17 Jan and Sat 23 - Sun 24 Jan

Introduction to Weaving - Melanie Venes

£225 (incl £75 deposit)
This four-day workshop over two consecutive weekends is aimed at complete beginners or those who have not woven for some time. Looms are prepared in advance with a variety of yarns and threadings, so that students begin weaving straight away. During the course of the workshop students cover all the basics from planning and making a warp, putting it on the loom, experimenting with a variety of structures, and discussing finishing techniques.
Melanie has probably introduced more people to weaving than any other teacher in the UK, and has been teaching regularly at Handweavers since 1992. She is also sought after as a weaver in her own right, with recent commissions ranging from fabric for scientific testing to the cover fabric of Anne Frank’s diary for the BBC production.

Sun 24 Jant

Introduction to Spinning - Jenifer Midgley

£75 (incl £25 deposit)
This workshop takes you through all the stages from fleece sorting to carding, spindle and wheel spinning in both woollen and worsted techniques, and on to plying. Techniques for creating effect and novelty yarns will also be discussed. All this in one day!
Jenifer has been spinning and weaving for more years than she cares to remember and is well known for the fineness (in all senses) of her work in both crafts - a measure of her patience, which she also exhibits in her teaching!

Sat 30 Jan - Tues 2 Feb

Rig Weaving: Twill Rugs - Jason Collingwood

£260 (incl £85 deposit)
Twill rugs lie well with a pleasing density, and there are many different ways to give each its own unique design. This four-day workshop will explore many two and three colour sequences using straight twill, broken twill and twill on opposites. Crossed wefts (parallel and contrary motion) and clasped wefts will be applied to 2/2 twill, further increasing the design possibilities, and pick-up and 3/1 double-faced twill will also be discussed.
With over 21 years of experience as a rug weaver, Jason has woven literally thousands of rugs for individual and corporate clients worldwide. He is renowned internationally as an excellent and inspiring teacher.

Sat 6 - Sun 7 Feb

Creative Spinning - Alison Daykin

£145 (incl £45 deposit)
A two-day workshop that gives spinners the opportunity to discover their innate creativity and learn simple, effective tricks to design and spin their own designer yarns. Any spinner who understands S and Z twist can do this workshop - you don't have to be artistic, you don't need to be able to paint or draw. You'll work from a photo or picture that particularly appeals to you, learning to look at colour and texture with a new eye, and translating your emerging ideas into exciting fancy or textured yarns.
Alison has been teaching spinning, weaving and dyeing since 1983, and is co-author of "Creative Spinning" (2007, Gaia Books). Her textiles have been exhibited countrywide, including at 100% Design.

Sat 20 - Sun 21 Feb

Tapestry with Recycled Materials - William Jefferies

£120 (incl £40 deposit)
Many things we consume can be recycled. Now is the chance to do some tapestry weaving using a variety of materials that would normally be consigned as recycling waste. Plastics can be colourful, telephone and metallic wires have potential, paper has printed pattern, and garden prunings can add organic subtlety. With a few clever strategies all could be used to make a good piece of tapestry that would be a pleasure to behold.
William Jefferies is renowned as a tapestry weaver for the diversity of textural effects he achieves in his work, not least through the inclusion of a range of traditional and not-so-traditional materials. His work is represented in many prestigious collections including the V&A.

Sat 20 - Sun 21 Feb

Tassel-Making: Fun and Funky - Jessica Light

£125 (incl £40 deposit)
A workshop using tassel and cord techniques to create fun, funky, and unique tassels with an emphasis on the creative use of design, colour, and embellishment. You will learn all the basics of tassel-making, cord-spinning, ruff-making, and how to cover moulds, but you will also be encouraged to use unusual or even extraordinary things. How about a tassel made from pencils or tin cans? or a paper or plastic tassel embellished with old jewellery?
From fringing the Sultan of Brunei's throne room to macramé belts for Vivienne Westwood, Jessica Light's trims and tassels have adorned the worlds of interiors and fashion. She is always experimenting with new and unusual materials and is known for producing innovative, directional, and design-led products.

Sat 27 - Sun 28 Feb

Double Weave - Brenda Gibson

£125 (incl £40 deposit)
Do you admire the results of double weave but worry that it’s too complicated to work through on your own? This workshop will take you through the possibilities - tubes, pockets, double width, colour windows, exchanging layers, textural effects - and demystify the process. You will weave a variety of samples on different looms and threadings. Looms will be prewarped, but some prior weaving experience is needed for this workshop.
Brenda first started working with double weave five or six years ago and remains fascinated with its many possibilities. She has exhibited work involving double weave in London and nationally with the Association of Guilds.

Sun 28 Feb

Charkha Spinning - Theresa Munford

£75 (incl £25 deposit)
The charkha is most famously associated with Mahatma Gandhi, although it’s actually one of the oldest forms of spinning wheel. The twist is introduced into the fibre by spinning off the point of a sharp spindle, and it is ideal for spinning short staple fibres such as cotton. In this workshop you will learn basic charkha techniques of spinning and plying and also methods of fibre preparation suitable for cotton spinning.
Theresa Munford has been spinning for many years, by no means always on traditional wheels. Her interest in charkhas stems from many visits to India.

Sat 6 - Tues 9 Mar

Three-Dimensional Tapestry - Hillu Liebelt

£225 (incl £75 deposit)
Move your tapestry into three dimensions by exploring techniques such as warp pulling, weaving irregular shapes, and incorporating wires into your work to allow you to shape it. Working from a design source that particularly inspires you, you will look at shape and line, space and tension, shadows and light, as you translate your ideas into the tapestry medium. A basic understanding of tapestry techniques is needed for this workshop.
Hillu has exhibited internationally in solo, joint and group exhibitions, and has taught in Japan and the Netherlands as well as the UK. Her hallmark is combining metal with textile materials, exploring the contrast between the hard and the soft, the rigid and the pliable.

Sun 7 Mar

Introduction to Spinning - Jenifer Midgley

£75 (incl £25 deposit)
See the description at 24 January

Sat 13 - Sun 14 and Sat 20 - Sun 21 Mar

Inroduction to Weaving - Melanie Venes

£225 (incl £75 deposit)
See the description at 16 January

Sun 14 Mar

Designing with Colour - Bobbie Kociejowski

£75 (incl £25 deposit)
How many of us have had the dispiriting experience of selecting beautiful yarns only to find they have lost their vibrancy in the finished item? Why does a colour resonate in one textile and in another blend quietly into the background? This workshop will increase your understanding of how colours relate to one another and help you with your colour choices.
Bobbie has been weaving for over thirty years, selling her work through galleries and exhibitions. She remains constantly fascinated by the interplay of colours, and this underpins all her weaving, dyeing and designing workshops.

Fri 19 Mar

Weaving Clinic - Melanie Venes

no charge
Just turn up with your weaving problems and get Melanie's expert advice on how to sort out that warp, improve your selvedges, or simply work out what went wrong!
See "Introduction to Weaving" above for information on Melanie

Sat 27 - Sun 28 Mar

Dyeing - Bobbie Kociejowski

£125 (incl £40 deposit)
Dyeing can be easy. You need a colour for your project that isn’t on the shelves? This workshop will show you how to create it. Using both acid dyes and fibre reactive dyes, you will learn to mix dye stocks, record recipes for future reference, and understand the concept of colour values.
See "Designing with Colour" above for information on Bobbie