Experience Level: Beginner

Learn to make your own textile at Tufting the Masters on Sunday, Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in The Studio.

Instructor Billie Theide will help students through the process of making small tufted pieces, suitable for framing and inspired by masters of painting (think Miro, Klee, Matisse).

$145/person. Registration will close Oct. 19 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

Learn more about the space where your course will take place here. If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Billie Theide is a former chair of the Crafts Program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she is Professor Emerita. Theide is a metalsmith, jeweler and ceramicist. Her work is in public art collections around the world including the Smithsonian, Museum of Arts & Design in New York City, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City and the Racine Art Museum, among others.

She is the recipient of a Visual Arts Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and five Artists Fellowship Grants from the Illinois Arts Council. Theide has been recognized for her excellence in teaching and is a Distinguished Member and Past-President of the Society of North American Goldsmiths.

Experience Level: Any

Learn to weave a special basket at Basket Weaving: Warm & Cozy on Monday, October 27 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Greenhouse Auditorium.

Instructor Bonnie Rideout will share information about twining, how to start and stop a weave and weaving with round reed as students create their own unique basket. Candle and floral embellishments are included!

$75/person*, Register by Oct 10. All sales are final.

Learn more about the space where your course will take place here. If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Bonnie Rideout wover her first basket in 1994 and quickly caught the "basket bug." She created a business--Bonnie's Baskets in Decatur--in 2006 to teach others to weave. She is also a traveling instructor and has taught weaving in 18 states. Find out more about Bonnie on her website, Facebook, Instagram and Etsy pages. 

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn about the high-energy dances that dominated the early 20th century at Historical Dancing: Titanic to the Talkies on Tuesdays, Sept. 23 through Oct. 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mansion Library.

Instructor Jeanette Watts will help students explore the one step, castle walk, tango, foxtrot, Charleston, black bottom and other delights of early jazz.

In this era, the music was so infectious it required new kinds of dancing to go with it! Ragtime took over ballrooms with dances that shocked as well as delighted, while syncopated rhythms turned into the jazz of the Roaring Twenties. Meanwhile, Rudolph Valentino’s movie tango kept ballroom dancers like Irene and Vernon Castle popular.

$25/class (or $110/person for the entire series). Registration will close Sept. 11 or one week prior to each class, or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Jeanette Watts has been teaching historical dances for more than 20 years. She is the founder of the Terpsichorean Delights Dance Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Queen City Vintage Dance in Charlotte, North Carolina, and spent covid writing an 8-volume series of instructional dance manuals for historical museums.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn the basic mechanics of using a spinning wheel to make your own yarn at Learn to Spin Yarn on Wednesday, Oct. 29 and Thursday, Dec. 11 from 5 to 8 p.m. in The Studio. 

After a brief introduction from instructor Stephanie Block, students will have time for hands-on spinning practice and the opportunity to spin alpaca fiber into yarn using Ashford scotch tension Traditional or Traveler wheels. Discussion of fiber production and preparation methods will also be included.

$130/person. Registration closes one week before each course begins, or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Stephanie Block is the co-owner of Sundrop Alpacas near Bement. She has been producing popular yarn from her own alpacas for more than nine years. Stephanie’s spinning style is self-taught, and she is continuously learning so that she can share that knowledge with others.

Experience Level: Beginner

Craft a traditional witch’s brooms using locally grown dried flowers and foraged materials at Besoms: A Witch’s Broom Workshop on Thursday, Oct. 30 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Greenhouse Auditorium.

Just in time for Halloween, instructor Remington Rock of Delight Flower Farm will also share the history of besoms (brooms) in the world of the occult and witchcraft. Students will take home their own handmade besom made from natural materials!

$70/person. Registration will close Oct. 23 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

Learn more about the space where your course will take place here. If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Remington Rock is not only the manager of the woman-owned, sustainable Delight Flower Farm, she is also a DIYer, avid crafter and has never met a artistic medium she didn’t like.

Experience Level: Some weaving experience needed

Continue your journey into the world of weaving at Beginning Weaving II on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 1-2 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Greenhouse Auditorium.

This 2-day class with instructor Sharon Bowles will be a continuation of Beginning Weaving I, but instead of everyone doing the same article, students will pick their own project, measure the warp, beam the warp, thread the heddles to their selected pattern, thread the reed, tie the warp to the cloth beam rod, wind bobbins and weave a sample of their selected yarn. Students will then weave samples from the other looms, giving them a wide variety of weave structures they can try out.

This course is a great way to continue your weaving journey!

$250/person*. Registration will close Oct. 25 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

*Students should bring a 4-shaft loom if they have one. All other supplies will be provided, including a loom if needed.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Sharon Bowles began weaving in 1990 and started teaching shortly after. She was taught to weave in a one-on-one class and wove two table runners in 12 (approximately) 2-hour lessons, and she teaches the same method when she teaches. Sharon has experience in weaving with silk, lace weaving, 8-shaft pattern weaving, parallel weaving, block weaves, and Shaker reproduction towels.

Sharon has experience in weaving with silk, lace weaving, 8-shaft pattern weaving, parallel weaving, block weaves, and Shaker reproduction towels. She has taught many workshops and classes to weavers’ guilds in Florida, Ohio, and Champaign-Urbana. She earned her Journeyman certification from the Weavers Guild of Boston in 2021 and a master’s certification in April of 2022.

Most recently, Sharon taught Beginning Weaving I & Weaving II at The Farms, and a 2-day workshop in 4 shaft patterns for the Champaign-Urbana Spinners and Weavers Guild.

Experience Level: Both beginner and those experienced with tarot decks are welcome

Learn about tarot cards and readings at Intro to the Tarot on Saturday, Nov. 1 from 6 to 8 p.m.  in the Mansion.

Instructor Charlie Rainbow Wolf will guide students through the history of tarot, what it does and doesn’t do, and how to detangle myth from method when learning to read the cards. Students will then use the cards to determine how to intuitively interpret tarot for their own purposes and learn how to start reading for others.

Tarot cards are included in registration.

$60/person. Registration will close Oct. 25 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Charlie Rainbow Wolf describes herself as an “old hippie” who has studied the “weird ways of the world for nearly 50 years.” She is happiest with her hands in the mud, either making pottery in an ‘artbox’ or tending things in her ‘yarden’ (yard + garden).

Astrology, tarot and herbs are Charlie’s greatest interests, but she has also dabbled in metaphysical topics in the last five decades — because life always has something new to offer.

She is a contributing author for Llewellyn Worldwide, is a ghostwriter for renowned psychic celebrities, and makes a wicked batch of fudge! Charlie lives in central Illinois with her very patient husband and special needs Great Danes.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn to weave wherever you are at Flat Loom Weaving on Sunday, Nov. 2 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Mansion Library.

Whether you are at home, on a road trip or relaxing in a café, this portable weaving technique is perfect for turning downtime into productive, mindful crafting. Instructor Danielle Reed will cover basic weaving techniques, how to set up your loom, color mixing and finishing touches — all using compact tools that fit in your bag!

Students will leave with their own unique weaving, plus the confidence to keep creating at home!

$70/person. Registration will close Oct. 30 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

Learn more about the space where your course will take place here. If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Danielle Reed is a long-time art lover who resides in Indianapolis, Indiana. She has had her hands in fiber since a young age and loves to learn new arts and crafts.