Robyn Spady - Drafts, Designs & More: Expanding Your Weaving Toolbox

Come spend a Fall weekend in Philadelphia, PA with teacher extraordinaire Robyn Spady where you will learn some advanced weaving techniques. 

October 24, 9-4pm

October 25, 9-4 pm

From Inspiration to Cloth: A Design Workshop for Weavers
What does it take to move from a spark of inspiration to a finished woven fabric that feels intentional, original, and entirely your own? This immersive, design-focused workshop gives you the tools, techniques, and creative framework to do exactly that.

Who It's For Weavers who are ready to deepen their design thinking and explore practical methods for translating ideas into cloth with clarity and purpose.

What You'll Learn The workshop unfolds in three connected stages:

• Foundations — You'll begin with drafts, blocks, and profile drafts, discovering how familiar weave structures move from the page to the loom and ultimately into fabric.
• Fabric Analysis — Shifting focus to the cloth itself, you'll learn to read woven fabric, evaluate yarn and structural choices, and convert your observations back into workable drafts — a skill that sharpens both your eye and your instincts.
• Design in Practice — The workshop concludes with an exploration of creative design approaches, with color strategies woven throughout, giving you a well-stocked design toolbox you'll draw on long after you leave.

What You'll Take Away Renewed confidence, fresh inspiration, and a set of design strategies ready to apply to your next project — all developed in a collaborative, idea-rich environment where creative breakthroughs are part of the process.

Each student will receive a bound notebook. Just bring a pen or pencil and a sense of adventure.Everything else is provided, including the occasional design epiphany.

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Robyn Spady is well known in the weaving world. She is a master weaver and the founder and editor of Heddlecraft® magazine. She is known for her expertise in double-faced fabrics, four-shaft weaves, and uncommon advanced weave structures. She has been weaving for over 50 years and completed the Handweavers Guild of America’s (HGA) Certificate of Excellence in Handweaving in 2004, specializing in Loom-controlled Stitched Double Cloth. 

This workshop runs from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Saturday, October 24 and Sunday October 25, 2026 - breaks will be given. We are located in Center City Philadelphia surrounded by great food choices or BYOL (bring your own lunch).

Workshop Outline:

Day One (emphasis is blocks)

• Weaves - from draft to fabric
  
• Twills
  
• Overshot
  
• Tied weaves
  
• Lace weaves
  
• Introduction to drafts
• Blocks and profile drafts

Day Two (emphasis is design and fabric)

• Proportion 
  
• Golden Mean/Fibonacci
  
• Rule of Thirds
  
• 60/30/10
  
• Tesselations
  
• Fractals
  
• Accidentals
  
• Parallel sequences
  
• Two colors
  
• Four colors
  
• One color
  
• Network drafting
• Fabric analysis - from fabric to draft (including yarn assessment and analysis)
• Riffing on a line (one sequence, different variations)
• Designing Borders
• Design Strategies
• Color Strategies

More about Robyn: She is a frequent contributor to publications such as Handwoven magazine and offers a wide variety of workshops, seminars, and online courses, including the "Totally Twill" series. Her teaching focuses on transforming simple thread crossings into innovative fabrics, often utilizing passementerie techniques and elaborate trims on narrow warp weaves. She continues to weave on the original loom her great-grandmother used to weave her first baby blanket!

She is the author of many publications that can be found HERE. 

Cancellation Policy:

We understand the thrill of securing a seat in a sought after class. Please make sure you will be available. With such a small class size for in-person workshops and considering the limited space we have, we carefully consider cost and space for each workshop. When canceling with short notice, we find it difficult to fill spots, making us unable to guarantee a full refund.

If you do need to cancel, please be aware of our policies: 30 days before the start of the workshop, there are no refunds unless we have a waitlist and can move someone into your spot. However, the closer to the start date, the more difficult it can be to fill a spot from the waitlist. You also have the option of transferring your class reservation to another person. 

The 10% discount does not apply to this workshop.