Allerton Park & Retreat Center

Experience Level: Some weaving experience needed

Continue your journey into the world of weaving at Beginning Weaving II from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 22-23 in the Greenhouse Auditorium.

This 2-day class with instructor Sharon Bowles will be a continuation of Beginning Weaving 1, 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.

$235/person. Register by March 15. All sales are final.

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

About the Instructor

Sharon Bowles has been weaving for 34 years and teaching beginning weaving for almost 33 years. She was taught to weave in a one-on-one class and wove 2 table runners in 12 (approximately) 2-hour lessons, and she teaches the same method.

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 at The Farms, and a 2-day workshop in 4 shaft patterns for the Champaign-Urbana Spinners and Weavers Guild.