Adult Classes | Kid Classes | Instructor Bios
Join us on the last Thursday of each month, 6:30-9:00 p.m. for Fiber Arts classes. Choose from one of the various options offered each month. To reserve your spot, simply click on the button below the class you would like to sign up for and follow the instructions on the page or call (978) 441-0400 x247.
Open Sew
Interested in learning to sew? Have a project you need help with? This class is for people with little or no sewing experience, or for those who want to enjoy the company of other sewing enthusiasts.
$25 Class fee
Instructor: Karen O’Rourke
Knitting and Crocheting
Learn a new craft that will enable you to create many fashion accessories, afghans, and much more or come get some help on a project you are working on.
$25 Class fee
Materials: Supplies to be brought by student: solid or multicolored yarn, crochet hooks or knitting needles
Instructor: Kristy Medina
Open Sew
Interested in learning to sew? Have a project you need help with? This class is for people with little or no sewing experience, or for those who want to enjoy the company of other sewing enthusiasts.
$25 Class fee
Instructor: Karen O’Rourke
Knitting and Crocheting
Learn a new craft that will enable you to create many fashion accessories, afghans, and much more or come get some help on a project you are working on.
$25 Class fee
Materials: Supplies to be brought by student: solid or multicolored yarn, crochet hooks or knitting needles
Instructor: Kristy Medina
E-mail or call to reserve your spot at reservations@athm.org or (978) 441-0400 x250.
This weaving course for beginners and intermediates is divided into four Sunday afternoon classes:
Week 1: We will concentrate on inspiration, weaving theory, kinds of hand weaving techniques, handouts, sett, charts, bookwork, how to document your projects. Where to get your weaving yarns. What projects do you want to work on? Placemats, scarf, shawl, pillow, table runner. What colors do you want to work with?
Week 2: We will cover warping secrets, counting thread, making and saving the cross, lease sticks, choke tye the warp, chaining,
Week 3: We will cover attaching warp to the loom, winding, threading and dressing the loom properly, fixing mistakes, weaving the project.
Week 4: We will cover finishing the weaving, washing, and finishing techniques.
Dates Offered
Session 3: May 19, 26, and June 2 and 9, 1:30pm – 4:30pm
Cost
$150 per session (or $40 per individual class for those that just wish to attend specific weeks)
Materials
You can purchase your own weaving (not knitting) yarns at www.yarn.com. Bring a 3-hole weaving notebook in which to save your handouts.
Come make a belt to match an outfit (on an Inkle Loom). We will spend one hour learning design skills and threading an Inkle Loom. Then we will spend approximately two hours weaving. This fun class is suitable for ages 8 to 70, but hand strength is required.
Date Offered
May 19, 10:00am – 1:00pm
Cost: $30
Materials
Purchase 3/2 Valley Cotton from www.yarn.com if you want your own colors.
First Saturday of Every Month, 10:00 am
Come and join other knitting enthusiasts once a month for socializing, camaraderie, and to work on your craft. Meet at the “Family Affair Café” located on the grounds of the American Textile History Museum for breakfast, and stay as long as you wish to knit. Bring your latest projects to work on. Share ideas with other knitters and prepare yourself to inspire, as well as be inspired by those around you! - FREE
No registration required.
Registration is now open for 2013 Summer Programs.
Marcia Daunis
She has been involved with sewing, knitting and crocheting since grammar school. She became a spinner and a weaver over 20 years ago. She is a former member of the New Hampshire Spinners and Dyers Guild where she learned the art of vegetable dyeing. She has won first place for weaving in the New Hampshire “On Your Own Time” competitions.
Marcia is also the published author of Miller’s Ben, a book about a boy working in a wool mill before the Industrial Revolution. She is a member in the Danvers Art Association and secretary of the Spindle City Garden Club.
Frances Killam
Frances Killam is a jewelry artist and educator with a BFA in metals from the University of North Texas, and an MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. She works with traditional silversmithing techniques and she is also a certified instructor in Precious Metal Clay (PMC). Frances maintains a studio in Lowell, MA.
Paula Lochhead
Sewing and crafting have been Paula Lochhead’s creative outlets for the past 45 years. She is an avid seamstress and quilter and she experiments in most fiber art forms, from beading to knitting. Paula’s passion for fiber art has given her the opportunity to be a Family and Consumer Science teacher and a Museum Educator at the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Kristy Medina
Kristy Medina has her BA in Textiles from Moore College of Art and Design. She has been crocheting since 1986 and has since added machine sewing, weaving, quilting, knitting and spinning to her repertoire. Kristy was a preschool teacher, and art docent for grades K - 6th, and is currently a freelance arts and crafts teacher. She has several Early Childhood Education units, and enjoys teaching both children and adults.
Visit Kristy’s website (www.textiles4you.com) and blog (www.textiles4you.blogspot.com). You can also find her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and you tube under the username “textiles4you.”
Karen O’Rourke
Karen O'Rourke's love for sewing began at 8 years old when she was given a Barbie sewing machine, and made all the Barbie outfits in one day! Soon she moved on to sew for herself, family members and friends, and always bought fabric to experiment with. Karen took sewing classes from local shops and decided to study Fashion Design at Newbury College. After many years of working in different areas of sewing and design, she opened a teaching business to share her passion and expertise with others.
Refund policy: All classes/workshops must be prepaid in order to participate in the programs. Refund requests are granted up to 7 days before the class/ workshop begins. A $10 non-refundable registration fee will be charged to the students being refunded for class/ workshops that the do not attend. Refunds will not be granted to students that do not cancel within the 7 day time period prior to the class/ workshop. Tuition and fees may be transferred to another class/workshop. A full refund will be granted for classes/workshops that do not take place due to insufficient enrollment. Students will be notified 7 days before the class/workshop is scheduled to begin if the class has been cancelled due to insufficient enrollment.
Call 978-441-0400 X250 or email reservations@athm.org to sign up for a class.
