Weaving Masterclasses in 2024!
Craft Atelier is honoured to be hosting Robyn Spady, one of North America’s most widely respected weaver and fibre educator, in Singapore in April 2024. During this trip, Robyn will be offering three workshops and four seminars.
Robyn Spady Workshops (April 2024)
| Date | Title of Workshop / Seminar |
| 20 & 21 April (Sat & Sun) 10am to 5pm |
2-Day Workshop: Extreme Warp Makeover |
| 20 April (Sat) 7pm to 9pm |
90-min Seminar: Weaving TnT : Dynamic Tips 'n' Techniques for Every Weaver |
| 21 April (Sun) 7pm to 9pm |
90-min Seminar: The Taming of the Hue |
| 24 & 25 April (Wed & Thu) 10am to 5pm |
2-Day Workshop: A Parallel Threading is the Weaver's Playground |
| 27 & 28 April (Sat & Sun) 10am to 5pm |
2-Day Workshop: Block Party |
| 27 April (Sat) 7pm to 9pm |
90-min Seminar: Great Weave Structures for Color and Texture Using Novelty Yarns |
| 28 April (Sun) 7pm to 9pm |
90-min Seminar: The Fab Four |
Fees
Fees for the workshops and seminars are as follows:
Early Bird Pricing (sign-ups before 31 January 2024)
- $90 per seminar
- $550 per workshop
Standard Pricing (sign-ups after 31 January 2024)
- $100 per seminar
- $600 per workshop
Workshop fees are inclusive of instructions and printed materials. Participants are expected to provide their own looms, warp and weft materials. Warping instructions will be provided prior to the workshops.
We have limited capacity for both seminars and workshops due to the size of our studio. A small number of table and floor looms are available for rental, on a first-come-first-serve basis.
About Robyn Spady
Robyn Spady was introduced to handweaving as a baby with her handwoven baby blanket woven by her great-grandmother. Inspired by her blankie, she learned to weave at a young age and has been weaving for over 50 years. She completed HGA's Certificate of Excellence in Handweaving (COE-W) in 2004 with the specialized study Loom-controlled Stitched Double Cloth. Robyn is fascinated by the infinite possibilities of crossing threads and loves coming up with new ideas to create fabric and transform it into something new and exciting. She is committed to turning the weaving world on to double-faced fabrics, four-shaft weaves, uncommon and advanced weave structures, and passementerie techniques. Robyn is also the founder and editor of Heddlecraft® magazine.
Extreme Warp Makeover
Level: Intermediate to Advanced (and adventure-seeking beginners)
Hate to warp, but love to weave? Want more versatility from a single warp? Then this is a workshop for you! In this workshop, participants will warp their loom with their choice of one of three four-shaft threadings and perform an extreme makeover and weave it many different ways . . . from twill, lace, and overshot to swivel, corduroy, deflected weft, and double-faced. At the same time, participants are presented with the basics of different structures and how to adapt a single threading to weave a number of different weaves, including concepts such as star vs. rose fashion, weaving on opposites, and echo treadling.
Four-shaft loom required.
Note: This is not a round-robin workshop.
A Parallel Threading is the Weaver's Playground
Level: Intermediate to Advanced (and adventure-seeking beginners)
A parallel threading can provide a weaver with a multitude of options and patterns–from echo weaves and corkscrew twills to turned taqueté and network-drafted twills. Then add weft variations in color and texture and a weaver will find themselves in a playground of possibilities. Workshop participants will pre-warp their loom from a selection of threadings and during the workshop enter into a journey of discovery and exploration of how to transform a parallel threading into a myriad of patterns. The workshop is a combination of presentation/discussion, weaving, and hands-on exercises. Emphasis will be on understanding the design and drafting processes to empower workshop participants to create their own patterns.
Four-shafts minimum. Eight-shafts highly recommended.
Note: This is not a round-robin style workshop. Participants will weave on their own loom.
Block Party
Level: Intermediate to Advanced (and adventure-seeking beginners)
Do the terms “block design” and “profile draft” bewilder you? Are you interested in developing new patterns and pushing your loom to new limits? Whether you have a four-shaft loom and want to expand its potential or want to better understand what to do with all those shafts, then this workshop is for you! Through presentation, discussion, and weaving, you will develop a practical understanding of blocks, profile drafts, and how to use them to create new exciting drafts. You will also examine the fundamental building blocks of many weave structures and how they can be manipulated into new designs and open up an unlimited number of new possibilities.
Minimum four-shaft loom required.
Note: This is not a round-robin workshop.
Seminars
-
Weaving TnT: Dynamite Tips 'n Technique for Every Weaver
Would you like to learn a great method for repairing a broken warp end, tracking your treadling while you weave, making your own repair heddles, or just make weaving easier and more pleasurable? This gizmo and gadget centric presentation looks and feels like an interactive show-and-tell and will introduce over 36 offbeat tools, techniques, or tricks to assist weavers in all phases of weaving.
-
Taming of the Hue - Techniques for the Color Challenged
Does incorporating more color in to your projects appeal to you, but leaves you feeling a little intimidated at the same time? Do you long to break out of a color rut? If so, you are not alone! In this seminar, a variety of tools and techniques will be covered to assist you in exploring different ways of incorporating color into your projects and give you more confidence in discovering new color horizons.
-
Great Weave Structures for Color and Texture using Novelty Yarns
Perhaps you have walked into a yarn shop and been fascinated with stunning novelty yarns. But as a weaver, it can be a challenge to figure out how to incorporate them into weaving projects in order to showcase the yarns without breaking the bank. Or you may have been inspired by the fabric used for a Chanel-style jacket that was created by Linton Tweed, Lesage, or Bernat Klein and would like to understand how these fabrics were created so you can design and weave your own. In this program, Robyn Spady will share a small collection of weave structures that let you take advantage of fun and exciting yarns and to add new dimensions to your weaving.
-
The Fab Four
The Beatles are not the only “Fab Four.”Four-shaft looms are fabulous and frequently underestimated for their potential and versatility.Much of this value may be found in uncommon weaves capable of producing distinctive and remarkable results.Weaves explored during this program will include the following:
- Bumberet
- M’s & O’s and Turned M’s & O’s
- Four-block deflected weft
- Swivel
- Overshot-patterned double weave
- Double-faced weft twill
- Double-faced warp twill
- Interlocking Twill
- Bead leno
- Double Diagonal Twill