Jo Ann Manzone, the inspiring force behind Dream Weaving Designs, resident artist at the Ashland Arts Center, and all-around artist, is coming to The Tin Thimble February 3rd, 4th and 5th to teach an awesome workshop titled Making Fabric: Felt Collage and Sew. There are still spaces available in this workshop and we’re hoping to fill it up! Please call us at 916-652-2134 or email toni@thetinthimble.com to register! This class only requires students to have taken our beginning Nuno Felted Scarf class or have at least 4 hours of felting experience. Yes, there’s sewing involved, but no, you don’t need to have any sewing experience! Some simple hand stitching and machine stitching will be used, and Jo Ann will help student’s every stitch of the way.
Over the course of this three-day workshop, students will do the following
Day One: Students will make nuno felt yardage. Yardage can be simple or incorporate textural elements and design. We will discuss basic design elements when creating fabric for patterns.
Day Two: We will focus on combining nuno felt with other types of fabric to make pattern pieces. Stitching techniques will be used to create interesting pockets or collage pieces to be incorporated into the fabric.
Day Three: Pattern fitting, cutting, piecing and sewing vest to completion.
Jo Ann is providing two fabulous vest patterns for students to choose from and will ensure that every student’s vest fits nicely. She says, ”
A garment that fits is key to looking good. Most of our body types don’t conform to standard patterns so we will be fitting your pattern to your individual silhouette and giving you some overall fitting tips and techniques.”
Here are some pictures of finished fabric & vests made with the fabric!
Here’s a little bit about Jo Ann’s Manzone: Her work is influenced by the diverse fashion trends of the 1960’s. This influence can be seen today in the playful way she combines wool, silk and other fibers to create nuno felted fabric. Nuno is a Japanese term meaning cloth. She uses silk as her base cloth and adds merino wool, silk roving, strips of fabric, yarn and ribbon to create texture and pucker on the fabric that she uses to make clothing and accessories. Her creative focus is on surface design and combining natural elements with her handmade felt to create unique textiles. “I love playing with different fabrics and textures to create unusual fabric for clothing.”
Jo Ann has two studios, one at Ashland Art Center where she sells her unique work and a working/teaching space, “The Design Studio” where she teaches and creates. “Working with textiles takes me back to a time in my childhood when I was part of a circle, belonging and loved.” Based on those words alone,I think you’ll fit right in at the Thimble, Jo Ann!
We can’t wait for this workshop to happen and look forward to seeing a classroom of students learning Jo Ann’s inspiring techniques!
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