Skill Level and Prerequisites: Beginner - no prior spinning experience required

Instructor: Emily Bollhoefer 

Saturday, September 27, 2025 - Sunday, September 28, 2025; 9:00am - 12:00pm

$105 member/$125 non-member

Learn to spin on a spinning wheel!  In a small group setting, with expert hands-on instruction, you will learn how to set up the wheel, draft, spin and ply in order to make your own yarn.  You will learn how to spin using wool but the techniques can be applied to all sorts of fiber such as alpaca, cotton, flax.

Equipment & Materials: Spinning Wheels and wool fiber will be provided for the class.  You are also welcome to bring your own wheel in good working condition.

Maximum participants:  3

Skill Level and Prerequisites: Beginner - no prior experience required

Instructor: Lynda Rogers

Sunday, October 5, 2025; 10:00am - 4:00pm

$105 member/$125 non-member

Welcome to the amazing world of Natural Dyes!  In this hands-on class we will dye wool samples from 6 different dye pots of locally grown and foraged dyestuffs, plus Indigo.  Potential dyestuffs (Mother Nature dependent) will include some of the following: orange cosmos, dyer’s coreopsis, black hollyhocks, marigolds, madder root, black walnuts, goldenrod, onion skins.  

We will also experiment with different methods of color-shifting using various modifiers, mordants and overdyeing. 

Students will go home with a notebook, pre-printed instructions of everything we did, references, samples of all our dyed wools, and a ‘starter kit’ containing all the mordants and dyestuffs necessary to dye 4oz - 8oz of your own wool fiber at home.

Materials Notes: All class materials are provided.  

There will not be a scheduled lunch break but feel free to bring snacks or a lunch.

Equipment Notes: Rubber gloves (not plastic food service gloves); dyeing can be messy so students should wear old clothes and/or an apron; old towels are always handy and helpful.

Maximum participants:  6

Skill Level and Prerequisites: Beginner - no prior experience required

Instructor: Cherie Maxson

Tuesdays & Thursdays, October 7, 9, 14, 16, 2025; 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

$205 member/$230 non-member

Learn to weave on a 4 shaft floor loom! In this class we will work from winding a warp through warping the loom and weaving a sampler of simple weaves. Handouts and discussion will include planning a project, vocabulary of weaving, reading a drawdown, talking about yarn weights and what those numbers mean, warping from back to front, sleying the heddles and reed, and setting up the shafts to weave plain weave and some twills.

Material Notes: You only need a pair of scissors and note-taking materials.

Equipment Notes: Floor looms provided by the Guild for the class.

Maximum participants:  4

Skill Level and Prerequisites: Intermediate - need to independently warp your loom

Instructor: Bob Sobiech

Saturday, October 25, 2025; 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

$105 member/$125 non-member

The purpose of this class is to provide participants with an introduction to weaving Danish Medallions on a rigid heddle loom. This weave structure typically uses thicker contrasting supplemental wefts to draw the ground weft up to create circular or medallion shapes in the fabric. Participants will create a sampler as they experiment with a variety of supplemental weft yarns to create different designs using this particular weaving technique.

Materials and Equipment Notes:

To maximize the weaving experience, the participants should bring the following to the class:

• A rigid heddle loom, pre-warped as follows:

  • 10, 12 or 12.5 -dent reed

  • Pre-warped with 8/4 carpet warp (or something similar) in any color. This will be the main or ground weft, so participants should bring an ample supply for use throughout the sampler.

  • Width at the reed can vary from 6” to 12” and should be in 1” increments (i.e., 6”, 7”, 8”, etc.)

  • The number of warp ends will vary depending on the reed DPI

• One stick shuttle wrapped with the main/ground weft

• One stick shuttle with supplemental weft in a contrasting color and slightly thicker than the main weft

• 1 or 2 additional stick shuttles for use with other supplemental wefts (to be provided by the instructor to encourage experimenting with the Danish Medallion weave structure).

Maximum participants:  8

Skill Level and Prerequisites: Beginner - no prior experience required

Instructor: Kei Burke

Saturday, November 1, 2025; 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

$63 member/$73 non-member

Learn the art of Card Weaving by creating a pair of shoelaces!  Using a set of 10 cards (provided in class) you will learn to set and warp your loom, read a pattern, and weave beautifully patterned bands on an inkle loom. 

Looms, cards and yarn will be provided in the class. A set of 25 Card Weaving Cards ($13 value)  is included in the class fee.  Inkle looms will be available for Guild Members to check out (no fee) in order to independently finish your projects, if needed. 

Ages 12 and older, please.

Maximum participants:  6

Skill Level and Prerequisites: Beginner - no prior experience required

Instructor: Emily Bollhoefer

Saturday, November 22, 2025; 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

$50 member/$60 non-member

It’s relaxing, it’s portable, it’s inexpensive and it spun the world’s threads for thousands of years.  It’s the Drop Spindle! Spindling is a great way to learn the mechanics of spinning, to learn how to handle fiber, and to experiment with new fibers.  Spindlers have great control of drafting and the insertion of twist.  The instructor will demonstrate with various fibers and spindles.  Plying techniques will be discussed and demonstrated.  No experience necessary!

Equipment: Drop Spindles and Fiber will be available for your use or you are welcome to bring your own. 

Instructor Bio: Emily is a member of the Des Moines Weavers and Spinners Guild and one of the more accomplished spinners in the Midwest. Her gorgeous yarns have earned many accolades including Blue Ribbons in Spinning and Handknit with Handspun, Best of Show and Sweepstakes at the Iowa State Fair; Blue Ribbons at the Wisconsin State Fair; Best of Show at the Michigan Fiber Festival; and 1st Place at HGA Convergence 2024!

Maximum participants:  6

Skill Level and Prerequisites: Beginner - no prior experience required

Instructor: Kei Burke

Saturday, November 22, 2025; 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

N/A member/$50 non-member

Inkle weaving has a long,cross-cultural history,and is a fun way to create simple or intricate woven bands that can be used as bookmarks, custom trims, ribbons, guitar straps,leashes, and more. Inkle looms are  portable and take up very little space! Students learn to set up and weave simple bands on an inkle loom. Students will try a few patterns, choosing from a variety of colors. All equipment and tools needed for the class are provided.

Maximum participants:  6

Skill Level and Prerequisites: Beginner - no prior experience required

Instructor: TBD

Saturday, November 22, 2025; 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

$65 member/$65 non-member

Do you love the idea of gifting a handmade item to a loved one (or yourself!) for the holidays? But, seriously, who has the time for that?!?  

Well, now you do!

We’ll have the looms all set up and instructors on hand.  You just need to arrive for a relaxing day of crafting to make a fashionable hand woven scarf!  No experience is necessary as the setup, warping of the rigid heddle looms, will already be done.  You will quickly learn the weaving process and off you go, leaving at the end of the workshop with a finished, hand-woven, wool blend scarf!

A selection of different colorways will be available on a first come-first serve basis.

Maximum participants:  8

Skill Level and Prerequisites: Beginner - no prior experience required

Instructor: Pam Poppe

Saturday, December 7, 2025; 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

$105 member/$125 non-member

A great introduction if you've been curious about weaving! You'll learn the basics of warping the loom and weaving. This is a full day class and you will complete multiple wash rags made from Sugar ‘n’ Cream cotton. 

Materials Notes: You will need to bring 2 skeins of Sugar N Cream cotton, in 2 contrasting colors.

Equipment Notes: A Schacht Rigid Heddle loom with an 8-dent reed will be provided for the class. If you prefer to provide a loom for your own use, please make arrangements with the instructor prior to the class.

Maximum participants:  8

Past 2023-2024 Guild Year Classes:

Beginning Rigid Heddle Sept. 17 & 24, 2023

Rag Rug Weaving Sept 30 & Oct 1, 2023

Overshot Weaving on a Rigid Heddle Loom Oct 7, 2023

Beginning Weaving on a 4-Shaft Loom Oct 10, 12, 17, & 19, 2023

Beginning Card Weaving Oct 15, 2023

Beginning Spinning on a Wheel Oct 28-29, 2023 

Weekend Weaving Workshop Nov 11, 12, 14, 2023

Beginning Tapestry Nov 18, 2023

Beginning Band Weaving Nov 18, 2023

Beginning Drop Spindle Nov 18, 2023

Weave-a-Scarf Workshop Dec 2, 2023

Intermediate Rigid Heddle Dec 10, 2023

Color as a Communication Tool with Chris Acton Jan 13, 2024

Texture in Tapestry                                                                                   Jan 21, 2024

Overshot Weaving on a Rigid Heddle Loom Jan 27, 2004

Kumihimo Feb 4,  2024

Weave and Sew a Tote Feb 6, 2024

Weekend Spinning Workshop Feb 10, 11 2024

Beginning Rag Weaving on a 4-Shaft Loom.                             Mar 2, 2024

Working with Rags                                                                                     Mar 3, 2024

Repurpose and Create: Making Cordage                                      Mar 10, 2024

SAORI Weaving with Chiaki O'Brien Apr 27, 2024

Beginning Rigid Heddle Apr 27, 2024

Beginning Card Weaving Apr 27, 2024

Beginning Drop Spindle Apr 27, 2024

Learning to USe a Pin Loom Make-and-Take Apr 27, 2024

Bengala Mud Dyeing with Chiaki O'Brien Apr 28, 2024

Past 2024-2025 Guild Year Classes:

Beginning Spinning on a Wheel Sept. 7 & 8, 2024

Beginning Weaving on a 4-Shaft Floor Loom Sept. 10, 12, 17, & 19, 2024

Beginning Rigid Heddle               Sept 28

Introduction to Natural Dyes Sept 29

Beginning Tapestry Oct 6

Beginning Drop Spindle Oct 20

Tea Towels on a Rigid heddle Oct 26

Weave-A-Scarf Workshop                                                                                            Nov 23

Double Weave on a Rigid Heddle Dec 8th

BeginningCard Weaving Dec 15th

Beginning Spinning on a 4-Shaft Loom                                                               Jan 28, 30, Feb 4, 6

Weaving Krokbragd on a Multi-Shaft Loom with Debby Greenlaw Feb 20 - 22

Supported Spindle Mar 30

Bookbinding with Woven Covers Apr 6

Spinning Crepes with Peggy Doney (The 100th Sheep) Apr 26

Beginning Card Weaving Apr 26

Beginning Drop Spindle Apr 26

Introduction to Wet Wool Felting with Lisa Nelson Apr 26

2-D Needle Felting with Bonnie Ohrt Apr 26

Traid Dyeing with Peggy Doney (The 100th Sheep) Apr 27