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Past Events

  Tutor: Cally Booker Saturday 16th to Sunday 17th May 2026 Adventures in Double Twill In this workshop we will dive deeply into the potential of working with two layers of twill on eight shafts. Participants will have the opportunity to choose from a range of options, including: making bold patterns through the exchange of layers and use of colour; creating subtle shading using the two layers to blend colours together; and using the power of double weave to create twill tubes as well as fabric which is wider than the loom. About Cally Cally Booker lives and weaves in Dundee on the east coast of Scotland. She is drawn to places at the edge, where land and water meet, and in her work explores lines and boundaries, positive and negative, using multi-layered structures which hide and reveal. She achieves this by combining digital design tools with the slow processes of hand-dyeing and hand-weaving. Cally’s work has been exhibited around the UK and internationally. She is a member of the Society of Designer Craftsmen and a past president of Complex Weavers. Course Costs: £260.00 Note: This payment includes a non-refundable £50 deposit. Cancellation: refundable up to 3 months prior to the commencement, minus the £50 non-refundable deposit....

16 May, 2026 /

  Tutor: Cally Booker Saturday 9th to Monday 11th May 2026 An Exploration of Double Huck Two layers of huck lace: what can they do? One of the happy surprises of this structure is just how appealing a double huck fabric is. From elegant scarves with beautiful drape, to towels and blankets with an irresistible ‘bounce,’ it is lovely to wear and to handle. Participants will explore double huck through a variety of samples including layer and block exchange, stitched layers, mixed structures and colour-and-weave effects. We’ll look in depth at the structure to discover its potential for layering colour and consider how we can extend it beyond eight shafts. About Cally Cally Booker lives and weaves in Dundee on the east coast of Scotland. She is drawn to places at the edge, where land and water meet, and in her work explores lines and boundaries, positive and negative, using multi-layered structures which hide and reveal. She achieves this by combining digital design tools with the slow processes of hand-dyeing and hand-weaving. Cally’s work has been exhibited around the UK and internationally. She is a member of the Society of Designer Craftsmen and a past president of Complex Weavers. Course Costs: £360.00 Note: This payment includes a non-refundable £50...

09 May, 2026 /

Course Cost: The cost of a 6 day beginner's course is £350.00, which includes the use of Workshop equipment and the cost of all yarns used. Our beginners’ courses run three times a year - spring, summer and autumn - usually with a maximum of 8 students on each course. The courses are taught by experienced handweavers supported by a team of experienced weaving assistants in our well-equipped Workshop, close to Ashprington, near Totnes, Devon. Classes are small and based on practical learning. Beginners are taught all stages of setting up a loom and over the 6 day course you will learn to wind a warp and put it onto a Louët table loom. Then you will weave a series of different weave structures as a sample and then a scarf, using a lovely Jaggerspun wool/silk yarn. At the end of the course you will have your handwoven samples and scarf, plus a set of comprehensive course notes to take home for future reference. After completing a beginners’ course, students have the opportunity to join the Workshop as an associate member, giving them full use of the Workshop, its looms and equipment with free guidance from experienced weavers available. Cancellation: 50% of the course...

07 February, 2026 /

Tutor: James Donald Saturday 27 to Monday 29 September 2025 In this three-day weave project you will be led through various steps and techniques to achieve your own woven project that will result in fabrics that look as though they have been stitched rather than woven. Technical information about warps, colour and yarn will be made available prior to the course. Top tips will be given throughout! Much of the course visually references the Japanese embroidery technique of sashiko stitching - a basic running stitch which was initially a functional stitch used to make repairs to clothing such as fishermen's jackets and household items including mattresses, bedding etc. This basic stitch later developed into a decorative stitch which now adorns many textile items for no other reason than they are beautifully stitched marks. Day one will be spent warping up and dressing your 8 shaft loom, using one or two beams, with your chosen yarns. On day two you will be introduced to a variety of lifts with which to generate the stitch marks. Once mastered you will then be encouraged to develop your own ‘marks’. Day three will be used to weave using the given lifts in your chosen colourways and to continue...

27 September, 2025 /

  Tutor: James Donald Saturday 20 to Monday 22 September 2025 Mary Meigs Atwater (1878 - 1956) is credited with inventing this technique where she explored parallel threading and lifting and kept the technique a carefully guarded secret for many many years. However in this three day workshop you will be led through various steps + techniques to achieve your own woven project that will result in fabrics that are in keeping with the air of mystery that Atwater promoted. James will be introducing a variety of differing shadow weave lifts and techniques which generate differing pattern/shadows within the same threading and he will also encourage the development of your own shadow weave designs. Detailed warping instructions plus other information will be sent out in due course about colour/ yarn choices as well as additional technical information. As always top tips will be given through out including looking at colour, the optical effects of colour, how to manage your selvedges using two differing wefts, finishing processes etc … Many of the top tips can be applied to any woven fabrics. After graduating from art school in 1993 James Donald established his handwoven label PickOne in 1997 and currently works from two studios spaces within the creative...

20 September, 2025 /

  Tutor: Debbie Tomkies Saturday 10 & Sunday 11 May 2025 Led by dye expert Debbie Tomkies, this weekend workshop covers a wide range of techniques with plenty to entertain and inspire more experienced dyers as well as complete beginners. On day one we’ll be working with cellulose yarns. Day two will focus on protein-fibre yarns. Each day begins with making samples to develop skills in immersion dyeing, hue/saturation and colour blending. Each participant takes home sample cards with recipes and samples of all the colours produced. The day then moves onto practising a range of dyeing techniques. I usually cover dip-dyeing, hand-painting, simple self-striping, low-water immersion. Participants are encouraged to bring along pictures, colour swatches and other items to explore colour-matching and creating colour schemes. Debbie Tomkies has been a hand-dyer for over 30 years and has written numerous articles on dyeing, knitting and crochet as well as writing 6 books. Debbie has been teaching dyeing and textile arts for over 15 years. She is also a founding director or Making Futures CIC, a social enterprise that works with the local community to deliver health and wellbeing, creative and enterprise projects as well as City & Guilds design and hand knitting. Course Costs: £250.00 Cancellation: refundable up...

10 May, 2025 /

Tutor: LAURA THOMAS (3 days held over 2 weekends. Day 1 devising warp plan; Days 2 & 3 weaving. Looms to be dressed in the intervening week.) Day 1: Sunday 17 July 2022 Days 2 & 3: Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 July 2022 An accessible and demystifying introduction to basic 8 shaft, double cloth. Participants will take the first steps into multi-layer weaving to create simple yet striking block patterns. You will learn how to devise your own double cloth warp plan, as well as how to design your own lifting plans. We will also explore the potential for padding the blocks to create a woven quilted fabric, warp / weft floats, colour mixing, ‘colour and weave’ effects, and textured weft yarn experimentation, as per individual interests. Laura Thomas is an established woven textile artist, designer, educator and curator, working from her South Wales studio. Laura is well known for her unconventional approach to woven textiles which is underpinned by her in depth technical expertise, creative flair and eye for detail. She has taught on the BA Textiles degree course at Carmarthen School of Art since 2004, and been a visiting tutor at many other colleges, guilds and galleries across the UK since 2001.   Course...

17 July, 2022 /

Tutor: Laura Thomas (7 March - 27 March 2021) Building upon nearly 20 years’ experience as a professional weaver and lecturer, working at the highest level in the craft, design, art and education arenas, Laura has distilled this breadth of expertise into an exciting new self-directed online course, ‘Design for Weave’. The course is designed for those with existing weave knowledge but want to build their design understanding and confidence. Laura has broken down the key ingredients of great weave design into accessible chapters covering all the design fundamentals. Richly visual and written in straightforward language, you will feel inspired and energised as you watch short films on the subjects of mood-boards, colour, texture and pattern.  This is underpinned by being introduced to The Design Process for Weavers, writing a personal brief and how to evaluate a project. There is also a bonus chapter which takes you through some examples of how to approach translating design ideas into weave structures. Mindful that many feel intimidated by the very question of how to design, each topic is discussed with clarity with the aim to be accessible as possible. You will be encouraged to think in an expansive, open-minded way to enable you to have a...

26 February, 2021 /