I have an exciting new project to share called The Weaving Archive. As of right now, the link is just a landing page to sign up for the mailing list. In the future, the website will exist as a digital archive of weaving drafts, patterns, fiber craft curriculum, textile swatches, educational periodicals, and more.
The foundation of this archive is a collection of binders that I/Weaver House acquired when the University of the Arts closed. We were able to purchase the entire weaving department (you can read more about that here) and with it the textile and resource library. The UArts binders consist of weave drafts, textile samples, and curriculum from the university. By digitizing this collection, it will once again become accessible and inspire weavers from all around the world — all for free.
The second wave of this project will be to digitize periodicals and books that are in my personal collection and also in the public domain. If you have materials that you believe would be worthwhile to digitize and include in the archive, please feel free to reach out via email at theweavingarchive@gmail.com.
The digitization process is underway thanks to two volunteers, Rah & Lia. Meet them below!
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Rah Catani • instagram
Rah Catani is a weaver, zinester, bookbinder, writer, and artist of other sorts. She recently earned her BFA in Fibers and Material Studies from the Tyler School of Art. In her spare time you can find her roaming vintage stores, watching hockey, and stopping to pet every dog she sees.
Lia Schifitto • website / instagram
Lia is a writer and paper artist, among other things. She has a background in cultural heritage research. She is excited to support a local art history project and sees boundless potential in digitizing the collection.
Wow what an amazing resource you are creating for us - can’t wait to dive in 🤿
This is just incredible! Signing up right away. Thank you for sharing this resource with all of us. I can’t wait to see the full collection online.
I am the Webmaster for the Guild of Canadian Weavers and we have been looking for places to share our digital archive of bulletins. They are (mostly) quarterly and go back to the 1950s! Is this something you would be interested in sharing through your archive? Happy to chat more!