A Spiritual Encounter with Old Textiles

An inconceivably long time ago, the Most Infinitely Powerful Being created the world and turned it over to us. We were charged to fill the earth and have dominion over everything in it. The fish of the sea, birds of the heavens, plants yielding their seed, trees with their fruits, and all the beasts on…

Exalting the Humble Homespun Cloth

Weavers and fabric lovers spend countless hours admiring fabrics. We have our favorites. Sometimes we can pinpoint why a certain fabric attracts us but most of the time we have no idea why. We just feel something. Our eyes, our skin, our soul gets that strange tickle and we connect. I used to think it…

Claiming My Identity as a Black Weaver in 21st Century America

It is only recently that I have come to identify myself as a weaver. It has been much more culturally relevant to call myself a retail manager, a human resources coordinator, or a primary school teacher. I met my first loom weaver, a professor and active artist, back in 2005 at college in the Apparel,…

Sew Almost Victorian

I went to another murder mystery dinner a few weeks ago. As with the first one , I saw it as another excuse to sew.Fumbling through my first year of teaching has got me pretty strapped for playtime these days but I was determined to make my outfit. The theme this year was Victorian. I knew…

New Jacket, I want to wear this now

In anticipation for spring, (we've got a ways to go) I decided to work on a lighter 18th century jacket to wear at Heritage events in warmer weather. My plan is to make two cotton petticoats (skirts), a jacket, and quilted jumps (waistcoat) as a starter wardrobe to wear this year. I decided to put…

Stepping Back in Time

What better way to preserve the memory of our ancestors than to bring them back to life? Living history allows us to explore the world of the past through carrying out daily activities as people did before our time. As a college student I would look through the pattern catalogs at the fabric store and marvel at…