The Spurlock Museum in Urbana, IL is hosting an exhibition inspired by the C-U Spinners and Weavers Guild. Photo by Allison Macey
On January 26, members of the Champaign-Urbana Spinners and Weavers Guild will hold a Demonstration Day event from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Spurlock Museum to speak about works that have been part of the “Inspired by…” exhibit at Spurlock since August, as well as demonstrate the various techniques used to create them.
The guild began when 11 local women formed the “Spinners & Weavers Club” in 1950. While the guild has changed and expanded greatly over the years, it continues to hold meetings, which are open to the public, at 7 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month, September through May. The guild remains dedicated to promoting fiber arts throughout the Champaign-Urbana community through education, demonstration and sales.
“We do anything related to making yarn and cloth,” said Jackie Brewer, co-coordinator of the Demonstration Day and member of the guild. “Some members produce the fiber for yarn-making — raising sheep for wool, angora goats for mohair, angora rabbits for angora and silk worms for silk, and sometimes growing flax for linen as well as cotton. Some members grow plants for natural dyes, and we get together for a public demonstration of natural dying at Forest Glen Nature Preserve the second Saturday every September. We make felt from wool fibers. We knit and crochet, often with yarn that we make ourselves.”
While guild members partake in both spinning and weaving, Brewer said the two are distinct processes that result in different products.
The Spurlock Museum in Urbana, IL is hosting an exhibition inspired by the C-U Spinners and Weavers Guild. Photo by Allison Macey
“Spinning is the way almost all yarn, thread and string is made, overlapping short fibers to make long strands,” she said. “Weaving is the most common way of making cloth out of thread or yarn. One set of threads, the warp, is held in position parallel to each other under tension. The weaver brings the second set of threads (weft) back and forth perpendicular to the warp, going under and over selected warp threads to make a pattern. Weaving is done on a loom, which can range from very simple to complex and mechanized.”
At Demonstration Day, the members will cover all sorts of techniques. Brewer said that one member will spin buffalo fiber with a spinning wheel next to the teepee in the museum’s Americas Gallery. Other members will be spinning with both wheels and spindles and teaching spindle spinning in the Ancient Mediterranean Gallery.
Other demonstrations will include silk reeling (unwinding long strands of silk from cocoons), knitting, felting, embroidery, netting and naalbinding (an ancient technique to make fabric).
In addition, there will be plenty of hands-on activities for visitors. Anyone can participate in weaving and spinning activities, and guild member Molly Scott is organizing a “yarn bombing,” which entails decorating some structures in the museum parking lot with yarn and objects made from yarn.
The guild encourages anyone, regardless of skill level, to check out the Demonstration Day as well as attend its monthly meetings. The guild has interest groups and classes at Needleworks in Champaign and is eager to help people learn more about the fiber arts.