Textile Treasures in Siler City, NC

Downtown Siler City, NC, is home to a thriving arts community with an amazing number of resources for textile artists, including weavers, knitters, and natural fiber junkies.  I spent some time with my camera last week during the Third Friday art walk.

Weaver’s Delight Fly Shuttle Loom, able to weave 10 yards in a day if the warp was prepared ahead of time and enough shuttle cans were filled.  You can’t see the fly shuttle or automatic shaft changing mechanism from this side of the loom.(If a shuttle missed the flying shuttle apparatus on the other side of the warp, someone or something would get hurt!)

Looms in the weaving classroom.  This picture shows approximately half of the looms.  As many again are to the left of this row.

Spool stand for winding a sectional warp.  Probably used here to store spools; sectional warps are a bit long for most class weaving projects and those colors would make a right varigated warp!

Yarns for sale to students and other weavers.  High contrast yarns are best for twill sample class as they show the differences more clearly.

More yarns, in pastels.

Twill samples from the Twills handweaving class.  The green and yellow samples are woven on the same warp; the red sample including by cut and paste.  Jean Vollrath, from Hickory Mountain Weavery, is the weaving instructor.

Gold and black warp, chained and waiting to be wound onto the warp beam.

Gold and black warp in reed.  It’s more eye-catching in the chair.  Wonder what the cloth will look like?

Boat shuttles, empty of the spools that hold the yarn.

Bobbins for the boat shuttles, some full and some empty.

Size 50 crochet hook from Twin Birch Products, now located in Siler City.

Double pointed needles from Twin Birch Products (sets of five), available over the internet or in the yarn from Against His Will Textile Studio and Gallery (named because the owner’s husband never wanted the sheep that started this whole adventure….).