WILD WOOL
SPINNING STORIES & SOCKS
Learn the stories that wool has to share and how to spin and work with this wild material with Alexandra Juliette
This session includes demonstrations of the basics of wool spinning on a spindle, woven with the forgotten stories of wool workers from across Scotland. Alexandra will share how the land informs the textiles different regions produce, and how crofters clothed their families for land-based lives. We will also discuss how you can source sustainable and story rich wool to work with in your creative practice, which supports shepherds who are healing the land. This class will re-share the forgotten skills of wool spinning, and how much power hand-spinners have to create intentional garments.
All sessions are recorded and made available for a week following the course. This also includes times for any feedback questions.
Upcoming Dates
17 February, 6pm UK
£40
Alexandra Juliette is a textile artist, horticulturist and wild-crafter who lives and works in Scotland. Her work focuses on the relationship between humans and the natural world - finding ways to bridge the gap that has appeared and remind us how woven we are into the fabric of nature. Growing up on a farm in the Scottish Borders greatly informs her work of celebrating rural life and stories, with an emphasis on fading traditional skills.
After graduating from the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh with a qualification in Horticulture, she realised that her true calling was to find ways to reconnect people to the land through ancestral skills. With a specialism in wool processing and spinning, her work captures the heritage that fabric holds. Blended with her skills in foraging, natural dyeing, felting, weaving and knitting, Alexandra demonstrates that we are capable of clothing ourselves in garments that are rich in story and magic.
-
Suggested Materials
A drop spindle (top whorl for consistency in teaching)
100g prepared wool top
40cm of scrap yarn
Raw fleece (optional ~ can be sourced even off a fence!)
A notebook / note taking device
Our Workshop Feedback