Handwoven Textile Traditions

Website Contact the school

Handwoven Textile Traditions Researched & Documented Historical Presentations
Handspun Linen Thread & Wool Yarn
Historically Based Handwoven Reproductions
Bespoke Weaving (By Commission)

A life-long interest in textile history. Expertise & proficiency reproducing a wide-range of hand-woven items. Over 20 years experience developing and presenting educational programs to visitors of all ages at historic sites, museums, and historically themed events in Maryland, south-central Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. A retired teacher and librarian.

Here’s this year’s flax patch (on June 24) growing as part of the Museum Garden at Fort Loudoun PA. This section is part...
09/27/2026

Here’s this year’s flax patch (on June 24) growing as part of the Museum Garden at Fort Loudoun PA. This section is part of a larger garden which incorporates a garrison or soldiers’ plot of veggies; a children’s exploratory garden; a (Native) three sisters’ plot of Cherokee Gourdseed corn, long pie pumpkin, trail of tears beans, & wild to***co; a physician’s garden of medicinal & beneficial herbs; & a compost pile. Based on other 18th C. Military Gardens such as Forts Pitt & Ticonderoga.

Flax last week from the garden at Fort Loudoun PA.  Saving for seed.
09/23/2026

Flax last week from the garden at Fort Loudoun PA. Saving for seed.

09/22/2026

Wool – A fibre that’s seen it all.

It’s been around for thousands of years, yet it doesn’t hang around, biodegrading in a matter of months and returning valuable nutrients to the soil.

Sheep are hardy animals that support families and communities around the world, including in regions where crops are difficult to grow. They can withstand conditions ranging from drought to storms and still produce their remarkable fleece.

Wool has clothed generations, covered our floors and filled our beds. It’s kept adventurers warm in some of the world’s most extreme conditions and helped keep everyday life comfortable through changing seasons.

It’s been spun, woven, knitted, felted, tailored and engineered. From farmers’ fields to fashion runways, and through animal husbandry that helps produce high-quality fibre, wool has continually adapted to the world around it.

Naturally breathable. Renewable. Durable. Temperature-regulating. Odour-resistant. And at the end of its useful life, biodegradable.

Few fibres can claim a history quite like wool.

And after thousands of years, we’re still discovering what it can do.

Something new on one of the looms…. a nice way to use up leftover yarn from other projects.
09/13/2026

Something new on one of the looms…. a nice way to use up leftover yarn from other projects.

06/09/2026

Woven Linen Tapes had lots of uses around households & farmsteads. They were an essential part of most women’s dress during the 17th & 18th Centuries, used as waistbands for aprons & petticoats, as well as binding for hems & seams. If you’re making a new apron & would like coordinating tape, please contact me.

On one of the small looms - checks with a nice texture.
05/09/2026

On one of the small looms - checks with a nice texture.

Crushing flax seed pods today.  I have a pile (unsightly heap might be more accurate) of whole pods, bits of flax straw,...
05/01/2026

Crushing flax seed pods today. I have a pile (unsightly heap might be more accurate) of whole pods, bits of flax straw, dead shriveled leaves, & powdery dirt from the roots. I used a rolling pin, a large block of wood, & it took awhile. The proper tool for a large amount would have been a special flax flail, a long, heavy club or mallet to gently crush the seed pods without harming the seeds inside. The seeds still need to be winowed. I will probably skip this step & just plant them, kind of late (very) this year.

got flax?
04/21/2026

got flax?

Rippling flax today.  I have used many tools to remove the seed pods, (lol) wool combs, flax hackles, wooden mallets, bu...
04/21/2026

Rippling flax today. I have used many tools to remove the seed pods, (lol) wool combs, flax hackles, wooden mallets, but a proper ripple works the best, so efficient.

Address

Chambersburg, PA

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Handwoven Textile Traditions posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to Handwoven Textile Traditions:

Shortcuts

Share

Category