Hi all,
Hope you're having a great long Easter weekend if you're based in the UK! If only all weekends were 4 days long!
After the realisation that it's mid-April, I thought I would take this opportunity to let you know that I have a lot of super exciting backstrap weaving workshops coming up in the next few months.
I really mean it when I say that teaching people how to tapestry weave on a backstrap loom is one of my favourite things about my practice. It's so rewarding.
Dates & links:
Saturday 17th of May - 1 day course at West Dean College in London
Wed 2nd and Wed 9th of July - Evening series at West Dean College in London
Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd of August - 2 day course at West Dean College in London
Tuesday 16th of September - 1 day course at Charleston House (including a tour of the house and a delicious lunch provided)
Pictures from The National Festival of Making 2024 (these students only had 2 hours!!)
Testimonial that has melted my heart
To further convince you to come, here's an anonymous quote from one of my students (slightly tearing up this!!)
The best experience I had at the Tapestry weaving on a backstrap loom with Alexandra Lucas was Alex herself. She was very welcoming and energetic. Her passion for weaving was contagious and made me more interested on weaving as a whole. Her way of teaching is also clear and easily to follow. She was always willing to help and encouraged each person’s creative views. Even though I am new to weaving, I felt very proud of the piece I took home. I would highly recommend her class to anyone that is interested in getting into backstrap weaving. There were a few students that had previous weaving experience and she encouraged them to create pieces that were very impressive. Overall it was a great experience.
Examples of student work! Everyone's work is always so different.
What to expect
During the course of my workshops, I take you through my personal story with backstrap weaving, some history and also how the backstrap loom is structured and how it works.
You will then learn how to set up your loom from scratch for tapestry weaving. We will start with attaching the warp strings from the back to front beam with the right tension, then we will attach the shed stick and heddles.
You will also learn how the mechanics of the loom work with the movement of your body. You will learn some basic stitching, as well as weft interlocking and how to add the third beam to your weaving when your weaving becomes longer as your progress. I'll also show you some finishing techniques that I use when my pieces are off the loom.
For longer workshops, you'll have more time to work into your pieces and I'll show you how best to mount them and show off your creations in your homes!
I would absolutely love to see you at these courses! Feel free to pass this email onto anyone else who you think would be interested too.
As always, thanks so much for reading and I'll be back next week with what I'm making next. Spoiler, it's about 8-bit and weaving. Maybe some gaming, one for those nostalgic of the 2000s.
Have a lovely rest of your weekend and don't think too much about work tomorrow!
Alex