Sara learned to weave in the late 1970s while living in Germany for 20 years. Sara is largely self-taught through books, some lessons, observation of professional weavers, and extensive museum visits/connections. (Textilmuseum Neumunster/Klaus Tidow, Freilichtmuseum [Open Air Museum] Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel/Molfsee/Dr. Karl-Ingwer Johansson, and Museumsweberei Meldorf where the hand operated Jacquard looms still weave old fashioned Beiderwand pillow and throws.) She has always been interested in textile history and archaeology.
Sara founded a group (Webgruppe84) to share weaving/weaving history with the public at Freilichtmuseum Kiel (“descendants” of that group still work there).
She weaves on countermarche looms, a 16-shaft computer assisted dobby and a 50 pattern shaft drawloom with 8 ground shafts, single unit drawloom, and Jacquard looms. Her woven work centers on household linens and rugs, decorative items from the drawloom, and clothing fabrics/scarves. Sara is a member of HGA, Wisconsin Handweavers, Complex Weavers, and the European Damask Network.
Her educational experience includes drawloom weaving with Joanne Hall and three courses in Jacquard design at Eastern Michigan University, Oaxacan rug weaving with Wence Martinez, Navajo weaving techniques with Sarah Natani, Marilou Schultz and Mary Walker, and Jacquard weaving at Oriole Mill with Bethanne Knudsen.
She has taught at conferences (Convergence, CW Seminars), guilds and gives studio instruction at the Woolgatherers. Sara’s woven work has been exhibited in a variety of venues including Convergence, guild shows, conferences and galleries.
She is currently owner of the full-service fiber shop, The Woolgatherers Ltd. in Fond du Lac, WI, selling looms – from inkle and rigid heddle to countermarche floor looms and drawloom equipment – as well as supplies for weaving, spinning and felting.
Tied Weaves on the Drawloom – explorations in lampas and Beiderwand
In 2016 I became interested in lampas from Alice Schlein’s explorations into weaving lampas on multishift dobby looms. Drawloom weaving is complex and versatile. Some weave structures are better suited to this loom than others. Lampas looked interesting for a start and in early 2018 I embarked on a test using my 50 pattern shaft Drawloom. Tied weaves are perennial favorites, and they are surprisingly well suited for double harness looms. These complex weaves are quite old and traditionally woven on the two-person Drawloom of pre-Jacquard vintage. I’ll be taking a look at how these looms operated to encourage experimentation.
This presentation explores the loom modifications and setup needed to execute tied weaves on a Drawloom as well as the various fabrics produced.
Slides, fabric samples, drafts, handout including directions on loom setup and discussion will be included.
The exploration includes consideration fiber, yarn size, color, and pattern suitability. Warping, tying on and basic loom adjustments will be presented with slides and video.
Samples shown in the presentation are based on explorations of two tied structures – lampas and Beiderwand in its traditional form.