For a calendar view of just Open Studios, please click here.
Bring your handwork projects and stitch with your BARN friends.
This ongoing gathering - not a class - is all about hand needlework and embroidery. It is a time to get together and stitch, and get a little advice and help with your project.
Come if you're interested in embroidery, visible mending, needlepoint or hand sewing. It's always interesting and fun to see what others are doing, and to share your work!
Free to members, guests pay a $10 drop-in fee.
Registration is not required, and drop-ins are welcome, but please register to receive reminder notices.
Ages 14 and up are welcome.
View BARN’s current COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
BARN is committed to accessibility. Tuition assistance is available. Fill out the application before registering.
For those who might need physical assistance, learn more about our Companion Program.
Dale Walker hosts these Better Together sessions. She is the Fiber Arts Needle Arts Coordinator, and enjoys weaving, knitting, embroidery, sewing, dyeing, and surface design.
Building or repairing a violin is a challenging project, and not one that can be completed in a few class sessions. So this class is structured to let you work at your own pace with a minimum of stress. The class fee covers three hours a week of instructor time for 12 weeks — approximately three months. You can also work independently between sessions. If your instrument is not completed after three months, you can sign up for another 12 weeks (or more). It's likely that 12 weeks will not be enough to build a new violin, especially if you don't already have hand woodworking experience or if you can't devote much time to work on it between sessions.
The instructor will focus instruction on what each student needs. If you're building a violin, you will start with a bundle of wood and go through all the steps, from shaping the parts to assembling them, applying finish, and setting up your instrument so it's ready to play. If you're repairing a violin, the steps will depend on what is needed.
This class is open to beginning woodworkers and students who do not play the violin or fiddle (the instruments are the same; it's the playing that differs). But experience with either or both crafts would be an asset.
Spend the afternoon weaving at BARN.
Do you like to weave on a rigid heddle loom?
Crazy about frame loom weaving?
In love with weaving on floor looms?
Does weaving tapestry pieces make your heart flutter?
If your answer to one or more of these questions is yes, then drop on by and come hang out with your fellow weavers every Wednesday from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. This is also a time we schedule labs or study groups.
If you would like a reminder before each session, you can register. Drop-ins are welcome.
Free to members, guests $10.00 drop in fee.
Registration is not required.
Please click here for BARN's current COVID-19 health & safety protocols.
Join us for a monthly spinning session.
Everyone - from first-timers to experts are welcome! Spin on one of BARN's spinning wheels or bring your own. Dive into BARN's stash of fleece or bring your own.
Whether you've been spinning for years or you are just curious, drop by and check out BARN's spinning community. We're excited about getting you started in spinning, so come on in!
Free to members, $10 drop-in fee for guests.
To receive reminder emails about this event, please register. Drop-ins are welcome.
Come meet fellow cosplay and costuming enthusiasts and learn new skills!
About this Class: This is an interest group open to everyone who wants to share skills and learn more about cosplay and costuming. Do you want to learn how boning works? Want to understand EVA foam? Interested in leather working but don’t know where to start? Each month we will tackle a new theme lead by someone with experience in our chosen area to discuss the material or method. Have an idea for a topic or theme? Send an email to the organizer at behestdesigns@gmail.com.
Upcoming Topics:
Skill Level: All levels welcome
Join fellow weavers one day a month for a year-long study group to view Jane Stafford’s Online Weaving Guild episodes on our big screen TV in BARN's small classroom. Learn new weaving techniques while we share our successes as weavers. We will be starting with Season 1, back to the basics!
Participants need to enroll in the JST Online Guild. The online guild requires a fee to join, which is not covered by BARN. Once you join, you also will have access to all past episodes and helpful information posted on the JST Weaving School website. Please register so you can get reminders for the upcoming watch parties.
Details:
Instructor:
Facilitated by Weaving Studio volunteers
Drop in to knit some socks with a supportive and social group!
This time around our Knit-Along is all about portability as we go out into the world for our summer fun! Join us whenever you can, and knit one or more pairs of socks over the summer. If you’ve never knit socks before join us to talk about all your different options, including knitting one sock at a time vs. two, starting at the toe vs. the cuff, and which heel style each of us prefer. Want to try knitting socks for the first time? Stay after our KAL for the evening knitting circle to keep working on your projects!
Skill Level: Know how to knit
Students will come away from this class with (at least!) one pair of socks
Time to grab your knitting and head to BARN!
Join knitting enthusiast Betsy Hagestedt, share your projects, and plan your next one. Explore new ideas, finish projects, and see what fellow knitters are making. This is a great time to immerse yourself in fiber and friendship!
Please register so you can get reminders of the next Knitting Circle.
Skill level: All levels
Betsy Hagestedt hosts these Knitting Circles. She Betsy has been working with fiber since she was in elementary school, having learned to sew and knit from her mom. As an anthropologist, she uses her fiber practice as a means of connecting with people from other cultures, embracing the universal nature of fiber arts. Knitting gradually became her specialization due to its portability as she began to travel around the world. You can see some of her fiber experiments on her Instagram feed at behestknits.
Calling All Open Weavers:
Basket makers of all levels and backgrounds are welcome! Bring your current projects, completed works, or just your curiosity. Weavers share techniques, design ideas, materials information; ask and answer questions, and problem solve.
To receive email reminders of this event, please register. Drop in are welcome.
We meet the third Tuesday of each month, from 10 am to 2 pm in the Fiber Arts Studio. Email Cyndy Holtz with questions: cyndy.holtz@gmail.com.
Free for BARN Members and a suggested $10 donation for non-members.
If you have questions, please contact Fiber Studio lead at fiber.lead@bainbridgebarn.org
Be introduced to three shibori techniques, using indigo and natural dyes, guided by a world-renowned artist and teacher.
BARN is thrilled to welcome Ana Lisa Hedstrom for this three-day journey through the basics of three kinds of shibori: Arashi shibori pole wrapping, Itajime shibori folding and clamping, and "sewing-machine resist." An exciting component is the use of all-natural dyes throughout the class. There will be an indigo vat, natural dyes on pre-mordanted fabric, and a one-bath natural dye for protein fabrics.
Ana Lisa will bring indigo-dyed samples from Japan and examples of her own work, as well as a collection of books and catalogs for inspiration and education.
Bring a sack lunch. BARN has a refrigerator and microwave on the lower level.
We will work with a variety of natural fabrics, including cotton, linen, silk, and wool, to make samples and scarves. Designing with shibori fabrics will be an integral part of classroom discussion.
For the segment on machine-stitched shibori, local students are welcome to bring their own sewing machines. Others will be able to share a BARN sewing machine after an orientation. More details will be discussed on the first day of class.
This orientation grants members access to the Fiber Arts Studio seven days a week (some classes may preempt use).
You will spend 30 minutes in the studio reviewing safety and equipment care protocols. In exchange, your BARN member fob will be activated to gain access to the studio 8 am to 10 pm.
Open to BARN members only. Register so we know how many will be attending. Guests may use the studio during Better Together sessions.
Orientations are conducted by a various studio members.
Ana Lisa will share her life’s journey producing shibori dyed textiles from one of a kind Art Wear to installations on paper and industrial felt.
We are so happy to welcome renowned artist Ana Lisa Hedstrom to BARN. Join us for an evening presentation in the Great Room followed by a chance for discussion with this wonderful fiber artist as she brings us her unique perspective on shibori! If you have ever wondered what shibori is all about, this is a chance to find out from a master teacher and innovator.
A small fee is charged to support our BARN programs.
Get checked out on the Woodworking Studio’s major power tools not covered in the Tool Safety Checkout 1 class.
In this hands-on class, you will make practice cuts on wood that the shop will supply. Completing this class qualifies you to use the following tools during open studio time or in classes that have this as a prerequisite:
None.
Charles Sharpe
This is the class you want to take for your first time at a metal-cutting lathe, or if you just want additional experience.
Gain experience making a bolt on our Hardinge lathe, beginning with a hexagonal aluminum rod. Learn the basic functions of the lathe, including facing, turning, threading, parting, and chamfering.
You not only get a chance to gain confidence using our shop tools, but make a lovely bolt that spins freely into the nut you’ll create in our Make Your Own Nut (Intro to the Mill) class.
Machine Shop Orientation
Eli Backer is an artist, composer, and engineer, working in a wide range of media and constantly making. A Bainbridge native, she holds an MFA in Glass from RISD, and a BS in Computer Engineering from Cal Poly, SLO. Her work may be found in the Cynthia Sears Artist’s Books Collection at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, at the Center for Book Arts in NYC, and at the Fleet Library in Providence, RI. She is a self-taught machinist, having bought a lathe during the pandemic, and finds the precision machine tools offer incredibly relaxing.
Andy Dupree
Contact: David Hays metal.lead@bainbridgebarn.org
This introduction to our Woodworking & Small Boatbuilding Studio is required for anyone who wants to work in the studio.
This free orientation covers policies and etiquette in a community workshop, safety, and the studio’s leadership structure.
The Open Studio experience is discussed as well as what the studio contributes to support members’ learning and project work.
Learning opportunities to help the studio run smoothly are provided. Volunteer jobs range from serving as safety monitors, assisting on community service projects, and helping on Monday Maintenance.
If you are new to woodworking, a basic series of classes is explained to help you begin your woodworking experience while using natural and sustainable materials to create with your hands.
You will learn how our studio works and fulfill the orientation prerequisite for further use of the studio and classes.
Any materials used will be provided.
None
Jeff Williams
Learn the basic features of this essential engraving and cutting software that controls both our newer laser machines.
You’ll use this software whether you’re quickly cutting out some parts for your project or fine-tuning a complex etching. LightBurn software replaces RetinaEngrave, which you may have used previously. This class will get you started and help you implement your own creative laser designs.
Who should take this class? Those who have taken Intro to the Laser Cutter on the Full Spectrum Laser, but want to get up and running with our new laser cutters; those who have taken Intro to the Laser Cutter on the new lasers and are ready to see how to get more from LightBurn; those who have used Inkscape and RetinaEngrave with the FSL but didn't like the software; and those who love using Inkscape and RetinaEngrave and want to learn how LightBurn fits into your workflow.
The class covers the basics of LightBurn in the laser cutter workflow. It also covers setting laser parameters for cutting and engraving, importing your designs, vector graphics (line art) vs. raster graphics (pixel art), manipulating shapes and tuning images, using the laser libraries, and previewing your work.
Laser 101: Intro to Laser Cutter Operations. Log in to your BARN account and click on "My event registrations" to ensure you have completed the required prerequisites before you register for this class.
Mike Schrempp is enjoying retirement after 39 years in the design and development of computers. He’s done product development, mechanical part design, engineering management, and architected servers used in big data centers at Amazon and Microsoft. Now he enjoys making things - from wood, plastic, metal, food, and Python code - and showing others some of the tricks he’s learned along the way.
Get an introduction to the bench room and all its awesome tools, with a special emphasis on hand saws.
In this free class, you will get a tour of the bench room and its marking tools, chisels, planes, saws, carving tools, and other equipment. Then you will explore hand saws in more depth to determine a good saw fit for your hand size and explore which type is best for different situations. Then you will get to use the saws, with an expert coach there to help with tips.
Wood needed for practice cuts will be provided at no cost.
Paul Kury studied woodworking at Lonnie Bird’s School of Fine Woodworking in Dandridge, Tenn., and has been an active woodworker for more than 40 years. His preference is 18th-century furniture. Paul also volunteers as a woodworking safety monitor at BARN and coordinates the hand-tool classes.
Jeanne Huber
Make a set of jigs to simplify kumiko woodworking, a Japanese-style process of cutting and arranging thin strips of wood.
Kumiko is a technique of assembling wooden pieces into intricate, interlocking geometric patterns without nails.
You may also wish to sign up for a class that uses these jigs to make several kumiko pieces with different traditional patterns. Learn more and register for that here.
Wear safety glasses and closed-toe shoes, tie back long hair, and avoid loose-fitting clothing and jewelry. We recommend bringing your own safety glasses.
You will make five jigs that help ensure accurate cuts:
Paul Kury studied woodworking at Lonnie Bird’s School of Fine Woodworking in Dandridge, Tenn., and has been an active woodworker for more than 40 years. His preference is 18th-century furniture. Paul also volunteers as a woodworking safety manager at BARN.
Learn about basic metal cutting, and the tools used for drilling, turning, milling, sawing, and grinding.
See basic demonstrations of the drill press, lathe, milling machine, cut off saw, bandsaw, and surface grinder. Throughout, safety issues will be emphasized for these powerful and potentially dangerous machines used in the Machine Shop.
Practice your woodturning skills or work on a project you need help with under the guidance of a woodturning instructor.
Everything from simple bead-and-cove sticks to handles, boxes, goblets, and bowls are appropriate for this guided studio time.
Whatever you're working on, whether that be a specific project or your woodturning skills.
Bring stock or notify the instructor in advance of stock you need, but do not have (paid for separately).
Jamie Straw has been turning wood for several years, working on both spindle and bowl projects, and has taught woodturning at BARN since July 2017. She also serves as coordinator of BARN’s woodturning classes. She is past vice president for education and training for the local chapter of the American Association of Woodturners. Her focus is on helping students build skills progressively as they design and create their projects.
Learn pearl knotting techniques and walk out of this short class with a new pearl necklace for yourself or for a gift.
Pearl knotting is not just for pearls. Pearls are a jewelry box staple and never go out of style. Always in fashion, pearls can be mixed with other gemstones or beads to create a unique, personalized necklace that can be dressed up or worn with a simple tee.
Karin Luvaas is a Bainbridge Island artist and jeweler with a degree in encaustics, painting, and metal sculpture. She has studied under numerous jewelry masters including Blaine Lewis, founder of New Approach School for Jewelers in Tennessee, and achieved Graduate Jeweler status under Alan Revere of the world-renowned Revere Academy of San Francisco. Karin also is a GIA Graduate Gemologist and holds a Jewelers of America Bench Jeweler Technician certificate. Her current work can be seen at karinluvaas.com
Learn how to drill holes into rocks, shells, sea glass, and pearls.
In this class you will learn:
Drilling with a flex shaft vs. a drill press
What drill bits to use
Cold connection tips to add finishing touches to your jewelry
Designed as a user's guide to BARN's Electronic & Technical Arts (ETA) Studio, this free orientation is highly recommended for all studio participants.
You will learn everything from studio etiquette and policies to an overview of what the studio has, and where it all is.
You'll get to see the 3D printers, laser cutter, soldering station, hand tools, and more. Overall BARN policies as well as studio-specific ones also will be covered.
You'll also learn about the leadership structure within ETA and about opportunities to help everything run smoothly. Volunteer jobs range range from serving as studio monitors to helping with studio maintenance.
This event takes place in person in the ETA Studio.
Contact: ETA.Lead@BainbridgeBARN.org
Learn how to use hand tools skillfully in this four-session component of BARN's Beginning Woodworking series.
Once you've taken Orientation to the Woodshop, join us to build a two-compartment tote, handy for storing or carrying silverware, garden tools, or other items. The project was specifically designed to give you experience with the most common hand tools.
You will learn to use:
All students must wear a mask to this class.
Orientation to the Woodshop (multiple sessions are listed on the Woodworking Calendar)
Tom Leurquin has been a BARN member since its opening and specializes in projects involving hand tools. After taking several hand tool courses at BARN and the Port Townsend School of Woodworking, he fell in love with the intimacy and meditative aspects of working wood by hand. His civil engineering background has helped him achieve a critical eye for detail and precision that enriches the art of hand tool woodworking.
These three days are designed for jewelry artists who are new to the craft and looking for time in the studio with an instructor to build confidence and tool proficiency.
Sarah Jones is a Bainbridge Island artist and teacher with experience in fine metal arts, jewelry, ceramics, sculpture, stained glass, and photography. She is a BARN founding member and Jewelry Studio programming and steering committee member.
Because Sarah is a visual and tactile learner herself, her classes typically involve a lot of hands-on learning and printed information.
Sarah’s art has been displayed in the Seattle Metals Guild and Bainbridge Arts & Craft exhibitions. Her work is sold at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. To view her recent work, visit www.foggyroaddesigns.com.
Learn the most important skill in hand woodworking: how to achieve a truly sharp edge on chisels and plane blades.
Every book on woodworking stresses the importance of having sharp tools, but what does that really mean? This class will show you.
Bring one or two chisels or hand planes, if you have them.
Weaving beginners and experts alike create a scarf to take home on these portable, easy, and versatile looms.
Weaving on a rigid heddle loom is fun and easy. The looms are small and portable and your weaving can be as simple or as complex as you like. This class is for those new to weaving or established weavers looking for a way to make quick projects.
You will learn how to direct warp the loom, how to do simple balanced weaving, how to identify and fix simple mistakes, and how to remove the finished project from the loom.
Rigid heddle looms are perfect for weaving with hand-knitting yarns. You will choose from a variety of yarns provided by BARN to make a scarf you'll finish by the end of class and take home.
Skill Level: Beginners to advanced weavers
A $25 materials fee, included in the cost of the class, covers all materials needed.
Bring a bag lunch. BARN has a refrigerator and microwave on the lower level.
A scarf to take home.
This class is led by a rotating team of Fiber Studio weavers and fiber artists, including Terry Winer, Dale Walker, and Sybil Carrere.
Learn to create a stained-glass window in this class for beginners and those looking to refresh their skills.
A stained-glass window measuring about 20 inches by 20 inches.
A $78 materials fee included in the class price covers glass, drafting paper, pattern film, zinc and lead, and miscellaneous other supplies. Students are encouraged to use glass from the glass studio. However, you can buy or bring your own.
Gregg Mesmer was recognized as an Island Treasure in 2015. He and his wife, Diane Bonciolini, both of Mesolini Glass Studio, moved to Bainbridge Island in 1977 and started their iconic glass studio. They have been working in the art glass industry professionally for decades. Their expertise, however, goes beyond glass cutting to include other types of fabrication, all aspects of creating stained glass art, copper foil, glass fusing, public art, and teaching.
Over the years they have worked on many community Art in Public Places projects such as the Bainbridge Beach Glass Quilt, the Waypoint beach glass project, Rotary Centennial Park, as well as others. Many of their projects include school-age students on Bainbridge and beyond. Gregg has taught for Northwest Art Glass, the Bainbridge Park & Recreation District, and Olympic College.
This three-hour class will give you a taste of how fun and easy enameling can be! We will use copper cut-outs to create a mandala that can be hung as a wall hanging or an outdoor mobile.
This three-hour class will give you a taste of how fun and easy enameling can be! Make some stylish earrings from copper sheets and wear them out at the end of class.
Ready to try something new? Learn how to make small enameled jewelry dishes.
This three-hour class will give you a taste of how fun and easy enameling can be! You will learn enameling techniques and how to form small dishes out of the copper sheet. Make these for yourself or a gift for someone.
Karin Luvaas is a Bainbridge Island artist and jeweler with a degree in encaustics, painting, and metal sculpture. She has studied under numerous jewelry masters including Blaine Lewis, founder of New Approach School for Jewelers in Tennessee, and achieved graduate Jjeweler status under Alan Revere of the world-renowned Revere Academy of San Francisco. Karin also is a GIA Graduate Gemologist and holds a Jewelers of America Bench Jeweler Technician certificate. Her current work can be seen at karinluvaas.com
Fix-It Saturday takes advantage of the equipment and skills of the Metal Fabrication group at BARN to meet the challenge of repairing items brought in. Requested repairs should be focused on metal or related electrical projects. Your hands on participation in the "fix-it" process is encouraged.
See what we can do, what suggestions we can make, or what other avenues you might pursue if a fix is not at hand.
(No wheeled vehicles, please).
Registration is suggested. Fix-It Saturday is free and open to members and non-members.
Please Note: Fix-It Saturday runs concurrently with an Open Studio available to qualified users. Open Studio users must register and pay the required materials fee for the Open Studio that is also held on this day. ----------------------------------
BARN will provide Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for participants.
Participants who plan to weld must wear natural fiber clothing, long pants, long sleeves, closed toe shoes (natural fiber or leather), no stretch fabrics, and long hair tied back.
Received 5-21 via a calendar from Henry and posted on 5/2
Get introduced to 3D printing by seeing BARN's printers up close and gain an understanding of how they work.
See a computer file get readied for printing in a process called "slicing." See our different printers and learn about filament, the material 3D printers use to make prints.
You will start a print and see the printer actually print. 3D printing has many uses, ranging from practical to fun, such as replacement parts, mold-making, medical models used in surgery, prototypes, and more. Bring your curiosity and questions. You can continue to use the 3D printers during open studio times when a studio monitor or other member can help you.
Optional: Bring a laptop with PrusaSlicer, a software tool for 3D printing, installed.
Rick Gordon
This is an opportunity to work with the industry-standard Smith® Little Torch and propane/oxygen torch. You will learn through instructor demonstration and guided, hands-on practice.
The skills learned in this class will help you feel more comfortable and confident in our studio or yours and get you ready for project classes. This class also helps you acquire a studio skills card for access to the torches during jewelry open studio times. You get to take home your soldering sample exercises and handouts for future practice and revision.
Take the first steps toward mastering the art of sheet metal work and create a display stand in the process.
Learn personal, tool, and shop safety; then learn how to use most of the basic tools for your future sheet metal projects - pattern layout, cutting, bending, shaping, and even the spot welder.
Practice your skills by making a display stand.
This introductory class serves as a prerequisite for all subsequent classes, including Organic Shaping and Forming.
A metal display stand to take home.
All needed materials are provided.
David Albergine
Welcome back to the Fiber Studio!
Now that we have all finished our summer adventures, join us in the studio to get back together and share what we have been doing. We will drink some tea and coffee, and each person can share the project they are most proud of having finished over the summer. This is also the official end to the summer finishing challenge, so hopefully you have been sending in photos of all your finished projects - each finished object receives an entry in a prize drawing for a surprise that will be announced at the event (you don't have to attend to win, but we would love to see you there)!
Image credit: Ekaterina Belinskaya
About this Class
Learn how to create a delicious dish of fresh, homemade linguini accompanied by two vibrant, vegetarian, summer sauces.
Linguini, originating from the picturesque city of Genoa in northern Italy, boasts a delicate texture traditionally paired with pesto. In this class, you will acquire the skills to prepare the dough from scratch and shape it into linguini strands. You'll also learn how to prepare homemade pesto and get creative with a summer sauce that highlights grilled seasonal vegetables.
It will be a fun and lively afternoon. Buon appetito!
Students will savor the fruits of their labor and they will have the opportunity to take home four portions of linguini to recreate the exquisite sauce they crafted during class.
Giovanni Strohmenger’s passion for cooking started in his family kitchen in Milano, helping his mom and dad along with his many siblings. Giovanni’s love for traveling has taken him around the globe where he broadened his culinary experience. He has enjoyed cooking professionally in a wide range of settings, including owning his own restaurant on the seaside in the south of France, managing a kitchen at a luxury resort in Switzerland, and being a personal chef in San Francisco. For Giovanni, cooking is a creative outlet and a way to connect with others.
Learn how to safely and efficiently use jewelers' tools through demonstration and guided, hands-on practice.
This class is for students of all experience levels to become familiar with the Jewelry Studio space and tools.
Start with a studio tour/facility walk-through and learn about the studio's guidelines, safety protocols, and policies. Learn how to order materials and tools, acquire a Jewelry Studio skills card, and all about open studio hours.
Skills covered include how to safely use a jeweler’s saw, bench shear, step shear, disc cutters, files, hammer identification, stamping tools, dapping tools, pliers, rolling mill, flex shaft, and buffing wheel. All of these skills will help you feel more comfortable and confident in our studio or yours and get you ready for project classes. You'll take home your sample exercises and handouts for future practice and revision.
This will be the last Introduction to Jewelry: Skills Class for the summer. It will not be offered again until fall!
Sarah Jones is a Bainbridge Island artist and teacher with experience in fine metal arts, jewelry, ceramics, sculpture, stained glass, and photography. She is a BARN founding member and Jewelry Studio programming and steering committee member. Because Sarah is a visual and tactile learner herself, her classes typically involve a lot of hands-on learning and printed information and resources for her students to refer to when practicing their new skills. Sarah’s art has been displayed in the Seattle Metals Guild and Bainbridge Arts & Craft exhibitions. Her work is sold at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. To view her recent work, visit: www.foggyroaddesigns.com.
Let's help one another get a better fit with sewn garments!
Fitting garments for yourself is tough. It’s hard to make adjustments while you’re wearing the garment, and once you manage to figure out the adjustments you need to make, how do you translate that to your pattern? And by the way, what does “good fit” even look like?
While BARN looks for a fitting teacher, let's try helping each other. This group is guided by the folks who come. Bring patterns, garments, and projects-in-process that have you wondering about fit, and we’ll pool our collective knowledge to answer our questions to find the right fit.
Please sign up each month so we know you’re coming!
Learn the basics of designing and block printing your own repeat pattern designs on textiles.
Explore the endlessly creative potential of surface design on textiles in this class for anyone who would love to learn the art of block printing and creating repeat patterns on textiles. It is the slowest process of printing and, once mastered, quite rewarding, showing the artisan’s touch. These techniques date back to ancient civilizations but still stand the test of time in their popularity.
We'll begin the process by designing a simple motif within the confines of a small square, which will then be carved. We'll discuss mixing pigments and the various ways of designing, registering, and repeating motifs when printing on fabric. Then the fun part: testing and printing your design to create various repeat patterns. Demonstrations will help guide you through the entire process all the way through heat-setting.
Students will take home their own hand-printed bandana with their unique design as well as the skills to continue exploring the process on their own.
Christa Schoenbrodt is a life-long Middle Tennessean and has lived a life of creativity. Paper was often her preferred surface as a printmaker and graphic design studio owner (Studio Haus). Then she learned the artistry of block-printing repeat patterns and textile design, which merged perfectly with her design sensibilities. The slower, more experimental pace of hand-printing repeat patterns presented great surprises and opportunities to accept the “imperfections” inherent in the process. She works with textiles using not only block-printing processes but also digital design, silkscreen, Cyanotype and, more recently, sewing.
Explore stitches and needlework with other embroiderers!
In this study group we will explore different set of stitches or needlework techniques each month.
We will get together, show what we are working on or would like to work on, share books, resources and help each other learn new techniques.
Fiber Studio volunteers will facilitate this group.
Be introduced to different intermediate cutting styles and get more time on the wheels perfecting your cabochons.
Learn how to cut and polish stones in new ways. Points, facets, flat surfaces, and integrating natural stone surfaces are covered.
You are welcome to bring any stones of your own that you have questions about, or what to try cutting.
Learn how to safely operate BARN’s laser cutter, make a small item, and start qualifying to use the cutter independently.
This workshop is the first step toward becoming qualified for independent operation of the laser cutter. It also prepares you for more advanced laser cutting classes.
Learn how to prep a design for cutting and engraving as well as the set-up, settings, and operation of the laser cutter.
Nathan Abell
Contact: Doug Salot at ETA.Lead@BainbridgeBARN.org
Learn how to solder earring posts, chain links, bails, joints, and mixed metal to hone your torch skills.
Designed for students who have taken Introduction to the Jeweler's Torch and Introduction to Jewelry: Skills classes. The skills learned in this class, with practice, will help you feel more confident and ready for project classes.
Each student gets to take home their soldering sample exercises and handouts for future practice and revision.
You will learn through instructor demonstration and guided hands-on practice exercises. And you'll get the opportunity to work with the jewelry industry standard Smith® Little Torch and a propane/oxygen torch.
Sarah Jones is a BARN founding member and member of the Jewelry Studio programming and steering committee. She is a Bainbridge Island artist, and teacher with experience in fine metal arts, jewelry, ceramics, sculpture, stained glass, and photography.
Because she is a visual and tactile learner herself, her classes typically involve a lot of hands-on learning time. Sarah’s classes are accompanied by printed information and resources for her students to refer to when practicing their new skills.
Sarah’s art has been displayed in the Seattle Metals Guild and Bainbridge Arts & Craft exhibitions. Her work is sold at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. www.foggyroaddesigns.com.
Learn basic concepts around soldering electronics.
Basic concepts around through-hole hand soldering, leading to assembly of a simple electronic kit, are covered in this class for people with no experience.
Nathan Abell teaches our laser-cutter class and enjoys advanced 3D printing, soldering, circuit design, electronic test equipment, and making lockpicks.
Contact: Doug Salot: ETA.Lead@BainbridgeBARN.org
As a follow-up to the Marine Mammals tech talk, Jim Henderson and Dave Bonnett will describe how the local community can collect data in their own backyard - Puget Sound - using hydrophones with wireless data transmitters.
For more information on this Marine Mammal project, read more here.
Jim Henderson spent his civilian career exploring the world’s oceans while doing highly complex technical and scientific projects. He was an Air Force pilot in Vietnam where he had is first opportunity talking on radios. He has built various radio-related projects for use when fly fishing and exploring remote locations in the western US. He is active in HAM radio (K7EXP) and is a trustee of the island's Amateur Radio Club.
Dave Bonnett trained in electronics and flew as crew Radioman/Nav and ASW systems operator in long-range patrol squadrons. He served on a number of nuclear submarines before retiring from the Navy in 1979 and has worked in underwater acoustics in most of the world's oceans for several companies. Since retirement in 2005, he has studied marine mammals in the Amazon (Pink River Dolphins) and helped analyze the acoustics of various marine mammals including blue, sperm, and killer whales. He's studying the impact of man-made noise on marine mammals.
Learn how to add pockets to any sweater pattern!
If you believe that every garment needs at least one pocket to really be functional, then this is the class for you. We will discuss ways to add pockets to just about any knit project, including patch pockets, set-in/bagged pockets, and seamed pockets.
We will look at some issues with knit pockets - such as saggy material, and how they can be combated. Some patterns are more challenging than others to modify for pockets, and we will also discuss if there are instances where pockets are not a good idea. If possible, students should bring patterns the they would like to add pockets to in order to provide specific examples that are helpful to their knitting goals
Skill Level: Confident Beginner, should have knit a sweater.
Students will come away from this class able to add pockets to any sweater knitting pattern
Students should be comfortable knitting sweaters, preferably having completed at least one sweater knitting project.
Class Policies
Learn to make patterns of the Japanese-style latticework known as kumiko using traditional hand tools and a table saw.
Kumiko is the Japanese technique of assembling wooden pieces without nails. In this class, you'll make several kumiko patterns, which date back to the 7th century, using a method that helps ensure satisfying results without years of training in Japanese woodworking.
This class uses jigs to help ensure accurate angle cuts, the table saw to cut the interlocking grooves, and a block plane to finish the kumiko strips prior to assembly.
Whether made the traditional way or with this hybrid approach, kumiko panels typically hold together without glue or nails because of the interlocking, precisely cut joinery. That precision also adds to the beauty of these intricate pieces.
Make several basswood kumiko pieces 5 inches square and 1/2 inch thick, using a different traditional pattern for each.
Learn how to cut and polish cabochons (gemstones) in this introduction to the art of stone cutting.
Learn how to use various cutting and polishing equipment to cut and carve stones.
You're welcome to bring any stones of your own that you have questions about or want to try cutting.
Completion of this introductory class gains you access to open studio time to use the lapidary equipment independently. This class is also the prerequisite for intermediate lapidary classes.
Karin Luvaas is a Bainbridge Island artist and jeweler with a degree in encaustics, painting, and metal sculpture. She has studied under numerous jewelry masters including Blaine Lewis, founder of New Approach School for Jewelers in Tennessee, and achieved graduate jeweler status under Alan Revere of the world-renowned Revere Academy of San Francisco. Karin also is a GIA Graduate Gemologist and holds a Jewelers of America Bench Jeweler Technician certificate. Her current work can be seen at karinluvaas.com
Nervous about knitting your first sweater? Get support in a class that walks you through each step of the process!
Want to knit a sweater, but too nervous to try? Join this class to work through the project with a supportive group of people.
For this class we will use the Wool and Honey Sweater pattern by Andrea Mowry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wool--honey. This is a sweater that packs a big visual punch with very achievable constructions methods. We will start the first session by talking about critical issues like fit and gauge before casting on our sweaters In subsequent sessions we will work through many issues, including the short row section, the elongated stitch pattern, transitioning at the sleeves, magic loop for small circumference knitting, and using appropriate cast offs.
Students will make a Wool and Honey Sweater in their own size. Among other skills students will learn about short rows, gauge and fitting, sweater shaping, magic loop method, and finishing
Students will make a Wool and Honey Sweater in their own size. Among other skills students will learn about short rows, gauge and fitting, sweater shaping, magic loop method, and finishing.
Learn the fundamentals of vector graphics using Inkscape software in this hands-on class.
We have a lot of machines that can be controlled by computer at BARN. The Metal Shop has CNC (computer numerical control) lathes, milling machines, and plasma cutters. The Woodshop has a CNC router. Electronic & Technical Arts has a small CNC router, 3D printers, and laser cutters. Fiber Arts has a computer-controlled embroidery machine. Getting your design out of these machines starts with capturing your design in a vector graphics application.
The better you understand vector graphics the easier it is to create a design and have one of these machines turn it into a tangible piece of art.
We'll talk about the differences between vector graphics (lines) and raster graphics (bitmap pictures), and about the common concepts used in all vector graphics software. We'll use Inkscape, a fully featured and free graphics design application that runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux computers.
The emphasis in this introductory class is on building a solid foundation on the basics of creating and editing vector graphics designs.
You'll learn the differences between lines, paths, and shapes, then the basic tools for modifying them in Inkscape. We'll learn a bit, practice, then learn some more. Everyone will take home a USB drive with the class materials. Because the class is developed using Inkscape, you'll be able to read through the lessons and practice more at home after the class.
Bring a computer/laptop with Inkscape 1.2.2 installed.
Ages 14+ (or 12+ with a guardian) are welcome.
Students are requested to wear a mask for this class by the instructor.
Mike Schrempp is enjoying retirement after spending 39 years in the design and development of computers. He’s done product development, mechanical part design, engineering management, and architected servers used in big data centers at Amazon and Microsoft. Now he enjoys making things -- from wood, plastic, metal, food, and python code -- and showing others some of the tricks he’s learned along the way.
Contact Doug Salot: ETA.Lead@BainbridgeBARN.org
Learn several techniques for setting a stone on another stone.
Learn how to drill a hole in stone, how to make a bezel and set a stone, and how to set a faceted stone in a tube (tube setting). We also will learn how to make some essential tools to finish this project and use them at your bench in your everyday creations.
You must have completed the classes Introduction to the Jeweler's Torch: Skills Class ​AND Introduction to Jewelry: Skills Class.
Karin Luvaas is a Bainbridge Island artist and jeweler with a degree in encaustics, painting, and metal sculpture. She has studied under numerous jewelry masters including Blaine Lewis, founder of New Approach School for Jewelers in Tennessee and achieved Graduate Jeweler status under Alan Revere of the world-renowned Revere Academy of San Francisco. Karin also is a GIA Graduate Gemologist and holds a Jewelers of America Bench Jeweler Technician certificate. Her current work can be seen at karinluvaas.com
Learn how to cut and solder together a unique, mixed-metals pendant necklace.
This beginner-level project class is designed to help hone your fabrication and torch skills.
We'll start by designing and cutting your metal. Then we'll solder it together using a variety of techniques and finish it using tools and patinas to create a custom, handmade pendant necklace.
Students will take home at least one finished pendant necklace...maybe more.
Learn how to make post earrings using sheet metal, disc cutters, and a torch.
Strengthen previous experience with soldering through hands-on repetition and practice. Torch experience required.
Students will be able to see samples for inspiration and receive a step-by-step demonstration covering safety and tool use from the instructor. This class is taught using the Smith® Little torch.
Bring a knee-length apron and hand towel.
Class Canceled by studio-CR
Learn simple dyeing and warping techniques to achieve different color-based looks in your woven fabrics.
Different color-based looks in woven fabrics can range from quasi-ikat color shifts to colorful blocks of your favorite colors. Or you can dye both skeins together and use the second for your weft.
Dyed skeins of yarn for rigid heddle warps.
Be able to warp a rigid heddle loom.
Terry Winer is a long-time knitter, spinner, dyer, and sewist who enjoys creating a community of fiber artists who get together work on their fiber projects.
Need a quilt? Need a pillow? Make a Quillow!
Perfect as a quilt, throw, extra pillow and handy to have along on car trips!
Make a twin-sized (72” x 90”) quilt that folds up into a pillow pocket for easy storage or display.Using pre-cut materials, 10” squares of fabric known to quilters as “Layer Cakes,”, you will sew a twin-sized quilt top from start to finish.
The pattern will be based on Half-Square Triangles (HSTs), and hand-quilted using the “tying” method with pearl cotton. From extra squares left after creating the quilt top, a pillow pocket will be sewn and added to the back of the quilt top. The finished quilt is easy to store, display on a couch or bed, or kept in the car for travel or emergency use. Several final quilt top layout designs will be shown and discussed.
In this class you will learn to:
A $40 materials fee includes:
1 layer cake (precut 10” squares, 42/package) main color/patterns
thread if color other than white is desired
If you choose to use BARN sewing machines, you must have taken the introduction to the Babylock Presto 2 orientation.
Join Koyukon Athabascan tribal member Audrey Armstrong to prepare, sew, mold, and adorn a fish skin basket.
Learn to construct a fish skin bowl from an artist whose works are known throughout the United States.
You will be provided with fish skins, which you will prepare on the first day. Then you will sew the pieces together around a bowl mold, and adorn your bowl with beads or other decorations you may bring from home.
Your bowl/basket will measure approximately 6” in diameter and 3-1/2” high.
The skins of two fish will be used per project.
You will clean the skin and preserve the skin overnight in an alcohol solution.
On the second day, you'll sew the pieces together around a bowl mold.
On the third day, you'll complete the rim and begin to adorn the bowl with beads or other decorations you may bring from home.
On the final day, you'll finish decorating and make the final touches.
Skill level: Beginner
Audrey Armstrong is a Koyukon Athabascan tribal member originally from Galena, Alaska, who now lives in Anchorage. She is known for her mastery of the art of the fish skin basket, which was self-taught. Audrey’s dedication to the art of fish skin basket making has led her to travel throughout the country and abroad. She has taught more than 35 classes around the USA, including for the Smithsonian. Her works are included in collections and displays around the USA. When she is not making and teaching fish skin baskets, she can be found outdoors pursuing her passion for fly fishing. You can learn more about Audrey and her passion for fish skin basket making at:https://salmonlife.org/archived/stories/salmon-sewing/
Learn how to use the CrystalBlast - a professional-level sandcarver - for all your projects in this introductory class.
The CrystalBlast Elite 2.0 is not your normal sand blaster. This is the Rolls Royce of blast cabinets and requires proper safety and operator training. The CrystalBlast is great for adding textures to metals and glass and can accommodate larger pieces up to two feet. Bring your notebooks and be ready to have your mind blown!
Karin Lee Luvaas is a Bainbridge Island artist and jeweler with a degree in encaustics, painting, and metal sculpture. She has studied under numerous jewelry masters including Blaine Lewis, founder of New Approach School for Jewelers in Tennessee, and achieved Graduate Jeweler status under Alan Revere of the world-renowned Revere Academy of San Francisco. Karin also is a GIA Graduate Gemologist and holds a Jewelers of America Bench Jeweler Technician certificate. Her current work can be seen at karinluvaas.com
Contact: Jewelry.Lead@BainbridgeBARN.org
Meet John McCormack, a furniture designer, maker and soon-to-be BARN teacher,at the October woodworkers' presentation.
At this free presentation — on the first Saturday of the month for October only — McCormack will discuss his interests and inspirations in making public furniture, teaching other woodworkers, boatbuilding and setting up a shop.
Now living in Port Townsend, McCormack is a graduate of the cabinet and furniture making program at North Bennet Street School in Boston, where he worked as a teaching assistant and still serves on the curriculum advisory committee. He holds a Master in Fine Arts in furniture design from Rhode Island School of Design. His thesis project, on seating, included teaming up with an art teacher in Providence, Rhode Island, to help high school students design and build a bench for their school. He later worked with two other youth groups on projects in California, where their goal was to address the dearth of public seating in cities.
The monthly woodworkers' meetings always offer an informative presentation on various aspect of woodworking. It's a good opportunity to meet other woodworkers of all skill levels, learn what's new in the shop, and share your thoughts on class offerings and studio operations.
As usual, we’ll have coffee and nibbles. Free and open to all — no need to register.
Join BARN Kitchen Arts volunteers as we review some of our favorite cookbooks of 2023.
For October, join us for "Florentine: The True Cuisine of Florence" by Emiko Davies.
We will team up, work through a few recipes, and spend time tasting something new. Buy your book, share your thoughts, or just come ready to cook. Join us on the second Sundays of the months for sharing and cooking with BARN's Kitchen Arts community.
Davies' book is about how real Tuscans and especially Florentines eat and think about their food on a daily basis. Each recipe tells a story of the connection to their culture, often with some colorful historical tidbit. For exammple, Catherine de’ Medici, the great-granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent (who was most likely vegetarian by the way) married Henry II of France and introduced the French to olive oil, spinach, white beans, artichokes, figs, and the fork.
We’ll be making and seriously tasting:
Robert Ross is a landscape architect, garden designer, and committed home cook who has traveled to and worked in many places, absorbing local cultures, history, and terroir. A Loeb Fellow at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, he spent a few years in North Africa working on a project that afforded opportunities to travel and explore Europe, eventually leading to a passionate connection with France and Italy - the people, food, gardens, and markets. He shares a unique perspective that blends simple and accessible European cooking, renaissance gardens, and ornamental and culinary terracotta.
Spend a week unraveling the joy of the four-harness floor loom.
Weaving combines color, fiber, and patterns in endless unique options to create cloth.
This five-session class is hands-on using floor looms and other equipment. The class will emphasize learning how to weave, how to set up a floor loom, how to plan projects, and how to read a weaving draft. We will also talk about weave structure and patterns. During the class you will weave samples with the focus on learning how to weave and plan.
Students will use BARN floor looms and equipment.
There is a $30 materials fee included in the class price.
Although the official class ends at 2, students are welcome to keep weaving throughout the afternoon (and evening if you are really motivated!).
Alex Mckeon brings creativity and enthusiasm to the fiber studio. Whether at the loom or creating her new fashion, Alex inspires all who work with her.
This is the class you want to take for your first time at a metal-cutting vertical mill.
Gain an understanding of the three principal motions of the table in the X-, Y-, and Z-axes, how to make use of the DRO (Digital Read Out), how to control the speed of the spindle, using collets, and the different cutters used. You also practice layout, using the cut-off saw, “finding” an edge, facing and squaring on the mill, drilling, tapping, and filing a chamfer. This class dovetails with Make A Bolt (Intro to the Lathe) because the bolt you make in that class will thread into the nut you make in this class.
This class is suitable for both beginners and those who are fairly new to the shop and wish to gain experience.
You not only get a chance to gain confidence in using our shop tools, but you get to create a lovely square nut that will spin freely on the bolt you’ll create in the Make A Bolt (Intro to the Lathe) class.
Please wear closed-toe shoes in our studio. Tie back long hair, avoid loose-fitting clothing and jewelry and roll up sleeves. Wear hearing protection when warranted and safety glasses; bring your own or use BARN's.
BARN is committed to accessibility. Tuition Assistance is available - click here to fill out the simple application before registering for a class. For those who might need physical assistance, please learn about BARN's Companion Program here.
Learn the best ways to start and end a knitting project, depending on its purpose.
There are so many different ways to begin and end a knitted piece, but which method is right for which project? You will learn about different methods of casting on and casting off, and which is best in which circumstance based on the type of project that you are making and for the yarn you are using. We will also talk about finishing knitted pieces, including weaving in ends and blocking.
Students will come away from this class with a sample of different cast ons and cast offs, and an understanding of when each is appropriate.
Betsy Hagestedt had been working with fiber since she was in elementary school, having learned to sew and knit from her mom. As an anthropologist, she uses her fiber practice as a means of connecting with people from other cultures, embracing the universal nature of the fiber arts. Knitting gradually became her specialization due its portability as she began to travel around the world. You can see some of her fiber experiments on her Instagram feed at behestknits.
Create striking floral images using frit powders of various colors and dried foliage.
In the first three-hour session, you will come to understand the necessary safety and cleanup practices when it comes to using glass powders. Then, with step-by-step instruction, you will practice the process of layering frit to colorize the dried foliage you have chosen to decorate your dishware.
Frit combined with foliage creates delicate organic images that will complement your food presentation or anything you might imagine.
Wear close-toed shoes and long pants in the Glass Studio at all times.
You will make one 9”x9” square swoop serving piece, one 3"x9" channel plate, and three 3”x3” condiment dishes.
Instructions will be sent to each student on how to dry and store your foliage before class.
Diane Bonciolini is the "olini" of Mesolini Glass Studio. Glass is her passion. As a full-time glass artist who has lived and worked on Bainbridge Island since 1977, she grows and changes with every project. She describes glass as having a life of its own. This multifaceted medium shows itself in each of her creations: stained glass, slumped and fused glass, lamp work, or glass combined with concrete.
Join fellow weavers and weave a pair of warp-faced placements on your rigid heddle loom.
In this weave-along for rigid heddle loom weavers, you will learn how to make placemats using thin, cotton yarn held double for the warp and bulky cotton yarn for the weft. You can also make substitutes for the bulky weft yarn by using clothes-line rope or cut-up T-shirts. The end result is a mostly warp-faced, thick, machine washable placement.
During this session participants will warp their looms and begin weaving. Depending on how long you stay, you will then finish at least one placement and then can complete the set on your own.
Introduction to Rigid Heddle Loom Weaving or equivalent. Participants should be able to warp their looms with minimal assistance.
Terry Winer is a long-time knitter, spinner, dyer, and sewist who enjoys creating a community of fiber artists who get together work on their fiber projects. Terry teaches many of the "Introduction to Rigid Heddle" classes at BARN.
Get support in planning the fiber and weave pattern of your next project
Are you ready for a new weaving project but not quite sure where to start? Bring your ideas and BARN weavers will be available to talk you through your next step. We can talk you through pattern selection, fiber choice and warping steps.
The Fiber Studio’s Weaving Labs are facilitated short workshops (1- 1.5 hours) on a topic, technique, or idea for weavers of all types of looms.
These workshops are during Weaving Wednesdays, so you are welcome to bring a weaving project to work on too.
Host: Weavers of the Fiber Studio
Explore seasoned barks from growing, to harvest, to weaving, to finish.
.Learn to prepare Judy’s seasoned barks for a plaited platter with shallow or deep sides. Meditative rows of twining define the sides and swirls of your basket. There is an innovative chase weave Judy developed while designing this basket. The edge treatment, bordered with roots or barks, will be thoughtfully chosen for each piece. These remarkable containers are woven to become both a serving piece on the table, but also to serve artfully on the wall. The basket incorporates a variety of willow barks, and roots and threads for the border.
Skill Level: This is an intermediate workshop—some experience with basketmaking is recommended.
There is a $135 materials fee for this class. You will be using barks, roots and thread hand-selected by Judy for this class.
Using examples from best-selling literary fiction, mysteries, fantasy, and even memoirs, you’ll learn professional techniques for weaving compelling mystery and suspense into your book, regardless of genre.
In the class we will:
"Mystery is a whisper, not a shout." - Kate Atkinson
A.C. Fuller is a full-time author with 24 published books under three different names. Previously, he was an adjunct professor of journalism at New York University and has taught courses in writing and book marketing at conferences and libraries all over the country. He lives with his wife, son, and three dogs in Kitsap County.
To find his media thrillers: www.acfuller.com
To find his Pacific Northwest mystery series: ddblackauthor.com
To find his new epic fantasy world: https://geni.us/The_End_Of_Kings
Love to weave, but hesitant to "sley" the dragon? This one-day workshop coaches you through the warping steps of a floor loom.
Fiber studio volunteers will coach you through using the warping boards, then transferring your warp to the loom and winding on. From there you can thread your heddles, reed and weave away!
Bring enough warp fiber for your project. We can coach you through winding your warp, setting up your loom, and putting your warp on the loom. This workshop focuses on back-to-front warping.
BARN weaver volunteers
Learn the techniques and tools to the fascinating art of glass cutting - along with a few simple tricks.
The art of glass cutting is fascinating, exciting, and empowering when you're successful. When you're not, it can stop you in your tracks and be very expensive. You can master this art with a few simple tricks, and some patience.
Instructor Gregg Mesmer of Mesolini Glass Studio focuses on basic techniques, circle cutting, curves, strip cutting, and more while allowing plenty of time for practice and personal attention. After demonstrations, conversation, and practice, you will have a better understanding of techniques and tools that make cutting glass a breeze.
Gregg Mesmer was recognized as an Island Treasure in 2015 as was his wife, Diane Bonciolini. They moved to Bainbridge in 1977 and started their iconic glass studio and have been working in the art glass industry professionally for decades. Their expertise, however, goes beyond glass cutting to include other types of fabrication, all aspects of creating stained glass art, copper foil, glass fusing, public art, and teaching.
They have worked on many community art projects such as the Bainbridge Beach Glass Quilt, the Waypoint beach glass project and Rotary Centennial Park. Gregg has taught for Northwest Art Glass, the Bainbridge Park & Recreation District, and Olympic College.
Fall weaving weekend is for you, by you, and all about weaving!
Treat yourself to a weekend of weaving! Join your fellow weavers for a three-day retreat where we blast through a project from start to finish. Enjoy sharing your project with your fellow weavers and marvel at the variety of projects warped and ready to weave.
This is how it works: you reserve a loom (or bring your own), bring your own project to work on, and weave ... all types of weaving are welcome.
View BARN's current COVID-19 health & safety protocols.
Weave a set of mug rugs for holiday gifts!
Learn to weave some pretty small rugs, for your mugs! These are quick and easy to weave and make great last-minute gifts. In this weave-along we will learn how to adjust the warp to enable weft-faced weaving which results in nice, dense fabrics. We will explore some simple tapestry designs to add interest and play with colors, and we will learn how to make multiple rugs from one warp.
Weave-along: As a weave-along, this is an opportunity for weavers to explore a technique and share their results.
This is not a formal class, rather a demonstration of a techniques and an opportunity to try it out.
Skill Level: Advanced Beginners (must be able to warp their loom and make simple weave fabric)
Learn how to transform birch bark into functional art in the form of a box.
Birch is a remarkable tree found in the boreal regions around the world. The bark has long been utilized by indigenous peoples from Scandinavia through Russia, Alaska, Canada, and New England. Join us to learn about this amazing and versatile bark and continue its long history of tradition. Karen will share her knowledge of gathering birch while speaking to the seasonality and sustainability of this wonderful material.
In this class you will follow traditions creating a lined and lidded birch box while learning a variety of stitches to beautifully finish and strengthen the rims. The top can then be embellished with contrasting bark that may be stamped with leather tools to add a unique and personal touch. The importance of stitch placement and good pattern layout while reading the natural character of the bark will be emphasized. Finished container measures about 5x5x4 inches.
Skill Level: Beginning
Bring sack lunch. BARN has a refrigerator and microwave on the lower level
Karen Sherwood began her basket weaving journey creating purposeful containers useful for wilderness survival. Over the last 35 years Karen’s understanding of natural materials along with her refinement of weaving techniques has allowed a greater understanding of the enormous skill possessed by early basket makers. She carries a passion for exploring historic basketry techniques and styles and brings this to her work, in part, by harvesting and preparing her own materials.
Come design and knit custom stockings just for your family!
Working from a standard pattern, this class will help you design stockings tailored to your personal holiday decor and the personality of each of your family members. You will be able to add names, seasonal elements, and even motifs that demonstrate the interests of each individual. The first class focuses on designing your stocking and choosing colors, while the second and third classes will focus on the actual knitting
Skill Level: Intermediate, confident beginners should contact instructor
Student should have some experience knitting colorwork
Each student will come out with a custom stocking, and the skills to plan additional projects.
Learn how to create and develop humorous characters.
Shakespeare created Falstaff. Lily Tomlin created multiple characters. David Sedaris is his own humorous character. So is Nora Ephron. Lena Dunham. Dave Barry. Such characters delight, entertain, inspire, and inform readers.
This class considers a few questions when it comes to creating humorous characters, such as: "Does my character react to life humorously or use humor to navigate life?" "Does the humor provide relief, amusement, or share a truth?" "What actions, speech, likes, dislikes, and mannerisms make a character funny?"
Learn how to fix knitting mistakes – everyone makes them – from the simple to the complex.
The good news is that nearly all knitting mistakes can be fixed fairly easily.
We talk about mistakes ranging from the simple (like how to pick up a dropped stitch without undoing those 12 rows you knitted after it was lost), to the more complex (like fixing cabling that crosses in the wrong direction or dealing with a twisted cast on in the round).
If you have specific questions, you can email them before class to make sure they're addressed (sometimes we need to prepare a visual to make things clear). You get a handout detailing the fixes.
Your own knitting projects, which will go from "oops" to "ahhh."
None are required.
Weave a fun scarf and learn a cool rigid heddle skill.
In this Fiber Studio weaving class, you will learn the magic of making a cross-weave cowl scarf. The two ends of the scarf are woven together to make a full cowl. In the first session, we will learn the warping secret. During the next session, you will weave your length and the magic of weaving the ends together will be revealed! The link to the pattern below shows many examples of the hero cowl.
Here are the materials you will need to complete your cowl:
Catherine Camp has dreamed of becoming a weaver since college days fifty years later BARN made that dream come true. She hope other dreams of weaving find their way to BARN.
Want to give knitting a try, but have no idea where to start? This is the class for you!
Beginning at the basics, this class will teach you how to cast on, knit, purl, and cast off at the end - everything you need to complete a scarf. During class you will make a gauge swatch to learn the stitches in a small format before casting on a scarf that you can work on for the remainder of class, ending with a knit sample of some of the ways to use the simple knit/purl combo!
We will also talk about planning projects, including choosing needle size and yarn, as well as care for knitted items.
BARN Policies:
Instructor
Betsy Hagestedt had been working with fiber since she was in elementary school, having learned to sew and knit from her mom. As an anthropologist, she uses her fiber practice as a means of connecting with people from other cultures, embracing the universal nature of the fiber arts. Knitting gradually became her specialization due its portability as she began to travel around the world. She has lived in the UK and Canada, visited parts of Asia and Europe, and travelled extensively in South America. Now she designs knitwear patterns and loves to learn new techniques to expand her skills even further. When she is not knitting she can be found reading, practicing archery, or working with animals, and is always looking for new hobbies. You can see some of her fiber experiments on her Instagram feed at behestknits.