Starting Welcome To Weaving
If you have not heard of the wonderful joys that Hello Hydrangea brings to weaving, I urge you to take a look and see the magic she is spreading. With a tag line of “make the most of your creative time” she surely delivers with her workshops, tutorials, classes and monthly weaving series. Honestly, she has become an icon of mine in the past recent months. It is amazing that she learned how to weave and then basically turned it into an empire, but also that she did not just keep it all to herself. She spent a lot of time planning on how to bring the world and love to weaving to everyone around her. Some of you may know that, that is a huge goal of mine for Homebody DIY and I hope to one day begin to share my love for weaving to the world.
After a few months of sitting on the purchase, this is something I do. I finally decided to buy the Welcome To Weaving Foundations class along with a bundle of other classes. For a while I was worried about what taking a weaving class would mean, as I never have. I learned on Youtube, Pinterest and through a teacher in college very off hand. I had fears that taking a weaving class would mean that I am not at all proficient enough to just teach myself the ways of weaving. After months of this internal fight, I came to realize that getting all these classes and starting with the foundation was the best way to go because I really just wanted to learn everything. I often found myself on social media being like, “I wish my edges were that straight,” or “I want to create texture like that” but really never knowing how, so a class is and was honestly quite necessary and I am super happy I went along with it!
Right off the bat, when I opened up Welcome to Weaving, my jaw literally hit the floor. This PDF is literally beautiful. It is crisp and filled with color, as well as all of it is linked to itself so you can click something in the table of contents and it brings you to the page. There are a ton of different skills, some I already know how to do, but some that I am excited to learn! Each skill also has a corresponding video where you get walked through step by step. This was a HUGE game changer for me, because I really prefer to see peoples hands move when they are doing these things so it has been very easy for me to follow along. The book is honestly pristine and perfect and I am so happy to have it. It is also incredibly inspiring for someone like me who wants to create something like this one day. It is cool to know that it is possible and it can be beautiful, well explained and easily consumed by all.
I am starting with foundations, but I really am the most excited for the texture class that I got. I am thrilled to be able to build up texture in different ways than I currently am. I feel as though it will help me be more mindful and involved in my own process because it is easier to engage in skills you already have.
I very much preach this concept of being able to “lose yourself” in the weaving/ creative process and sometimes taking a class brings you a bit out of that. It reminds me of when I first went to college and had to take foundation classes where you could only produce work in black and white. In a way it takes away from the mindful and meditative practice, but at the same time I feel as though it enhances it. When we learn, we are more likely to be able to be more mindful because we are filled with more knowledge. Through this welcome to weaving class, I am not only learning about the craft, but about myself. How I learn, what environments I learn best in and how all of that effects the process. I feel that since I began taking this class I have actually become more mindful when I am weaving after I have learned a new skill. I believe it is because I have become more aware of the fact that it is new and exciting! Learning these skills has made me want to weave more and more.
If you want to check out the great classes she has and the monthly weaving series, which you can buy month to month, head here!