Description

We are proud to offer for the first time to new subscribers, our entire Andean Backstrap weaving class library. Having grown up between Peru and the US and being a skilled weaver and teacher, Abby is in a unique position to be able to teach this style of weaving to English speakers in an authentic Peruvian way, the way you would be taught if you were a child in the Andes. Students learn the techniques as they were meant to be taught, on the equipment that is meant to be used, no cultural appropriation and taking patterns and weaving them on western looms here! This approach allows students to fully understand the techniques and work from their own knownledge and memory rather than using charts, instead learning how to read the textiles themselves.

We are aware that this approach is different to all other teachers out there as it requires more effort on the part of the student, but the results are so worthwhile. Lifelong Andean weavers have been impressed that Abby has managed to get so many english-speaking adult learners to the level of proficiency that she has in such a short time with this series of classes. As different people have different learning styles, we have two versions of the first sets of classes, one taught by Abby in the traditional way complete with cultural context, and one taught by co-teacher Cat Ellen in a different step-by-step manner, allowing students to pick which set of classes most gels with their learning style.

In the Andean weaving tradition, learning is always begun on a warp made by someone else; only once you know how to weave and understand what the warp should feel like do you go on to making your own warps. To make this experience as authentic as possible, we have warps available for you to buy. These are made in Peru from khaitu (handspun yarn especially designed for weaving) and are by the the best option to get you started. You can find the warps in the shop here, along with details about what you need to buy to get going.

Class sessions included in this membership:

Andean Weaving introductory demonstration
Andean Weaving 101 (getting started, 3 pair patterns, basic warping)
Andean Weaving 110 (4 pair patterns)
Andean Weaving 120 (working wider, new warping methods)
Andean Weaving – illawas
Andean Weaving – ley pallay
Andean Weaving 160 (finishing techniques – fancy edging and seaming)
Andean Weaving – 3 colour
Andean Braiding
Feral Courtyard (continuing learning and project planning outside of the classroom structure)

These sessions cover 22 classes (each of around an hour) with Abby, 13 with Cat, 10 Office hours sessions, and some longer live weaving sessions where a local weaver visits and shows her work. If you were to complete the work at the pace expected in the Andes, these sessions cover 5-10 years worth of learning.

Each class has its own dedicated channel on our private Discord server, allowing you to share your work with your classmates, go back and see the work of previous students, and ask any questions you may have.

This membership also gives you access to a once a month Office Hours session with Abby, live on Zoom, where you can ask any questions you have on the content, or anything else!