We’ll see you @renegadecraft this weekend in Andersonville!
Saturday + Sunday 11-6, up on Clark St
We’re stocked up on pouches and pillows and cute shirts and napkins and more
Come see us!
You shall know us by our Chicago Bears tent
It’s time for a 𝘞.𝘌.𝘍.𝘛. 𝘚𝘗𝘖𝘛𝘓𝘐𝘎𝘏𝘛
Sometimes something is so much a part of one’s day-to-day, that one forgets to give it its proper moment in the SPOTLIGHT. Well, today, we’re gonna shine that spotlight on our W.E.F.T. program.
Westtown Education for Textiles is a program that we run in partnership with social services agency @envisionunlimited_chicago and it has been part of our Big Wheel of Activity since the beginning. In recent years, it has solidified into a robust and active biweekly open studio weaving program. Working on a veritable armada of 4-harness floor and table looms, program participants design and weave cloth by hand that we then turn into various usable goods.
We started with tote bags with woven-in handles, moved onto rugs made with the selvedge offcuts from our powerlooms, added rep-weave placemats woven with deadstock yarn from the Chicago Weaving Corporation, and have since designed a rotating collection of handwoven pillows and pouches that use knotted scrap yarns and loom waste from the industrial weaving process. This kind of circular material ecoystem and waste-not-want-not attitude are central to the W.E.F.T. ethos.
Shoutout to our amazing volunteers, who help keep all these looms + weavers rolling and tie an unholy amount of knots!
Calling all LETTERPRESSERS:
TWM has recently become the proud steward of a very cute tabletop platen press and a few drawers of type. Obviously we are chomping at the bit to explore the depths of typographical weave structure. It’s everywhere!
However, we need help. We’re looking for someone knowledgeable in the realm of press rehabilitation who would be interested in doing a trade or skill share.
Is that you? Or someone you know? Spread the word! And if it is you, please send an email to [email protected] to discuss further…
Is this is what they call a “glow-up?”
Welcome to our new SHOWROOM
Next time you come to the studio, you can see all our nice textiles neatly displayed and cleverly presented.
Thank you @menardshomeimprovement for the supplies. Can we get a sponsorship?
Wowow what a great round of napkin workshops earlier this month! These are the resulting beauties. We have a few spots open for 4/11, 5/2, and 5/3, it’s a good time to make cotton striped napkins!
For those of you new to the spiel, our Napkin Design Workshop is a 4-hour event during which a household (1-3 people) designs a custom color stripe using colored pencils and yarn wrappings, then we weave the design on the power loom while you watch in wonder! After the workshop is over, we hem and wash the set of 6 napkins and send them to you. All for the low low price of $225
It’s too fun! Link in bio to sign up
We’re getting ready to send out the first installment of the 2026 Reverse Drafting Club — if you haven’t already signed up, now is a great time to do it!
$42 for the year, 4 installments of 3 swatches each, zoom gatherings and an opt-in contact directory, instructions of the process of reverse drafting.
We don’t call it well-intentioned destruction for nothing. Link in bio to sign up
LUCKY is how we’re feeling over here at TWM as we wrap up a banger of a Mill Mart (the TENTH edition!?!?)
Thank you so much to everyone who came out this year for cookies, cider, latkes, bags, shoelaces, scarves, and everything in between. We loved seeing you and YOU are the literal Reason for the Season
We wish everyone a peaceful end of year and may 2026 bring new light and good things
Until next time,
THE WEAVING MILL
Signups for the 2026 REVERSE DRAFTING CLUB are now live
For those new to the concept, reverse drafting is the process of unraveling a woven fabric in order to diagram its construction using Draft Notation.
Join us for another year of well-intentioned destruction as we set out once more to deepen our understanding of weave structure while simultaneously testing our eyesight & patience.
$42 gets you quarterly mailings of 3 swatches each, instructions on the process of reverse drafting, access to the EXCLUSIVE MEMBERS-ONLY webpage and camaraderie & community
Don’t sleep on this exclusive opportunity to get in on the groundfloor!
2025 Binding Bag S
Featuring Junebug cotton stripe from The Weaving Mill
Matched 1” binding tape and cord from Passementerie Mill
Patterned and sewn by 1733
Available in person at MILL MART, starting at 11am on Saturday 12/13 at 2153 W North Ave. Online next Friday 12/19 at 11am Chicago time.
Have you seen our fancy new scarves?
In early 2025, JaggerSpun closed its doors after 100+ years in business. For those not in the know, Jagger was a worsted spinning mill in Springvale, Maine that had been around since the 1880s. They made a beautiful range of wool yarns that were a staple of our yarn library. The loss of this mill is a real blow to the domestic yarn and textile landscape. As they liquidated their inventory, we bought up as much yarn as we could afford, without particular projects in mind, trying to imagine what colors and weights could become TWM projects down the line…
This plaid emerged from that cabinet of wools and we think of it as an homage of sorts to the beautiful worsted wools that Jagger spent 100+ years producing.
The Springvale Scarf measures 16” x 66”, comes in 4 colorways and costs $78
