Artwear off the loom

Vests, boleros, jackets -  whatever you choose  to call these -  are simply made with a mixture of linen, wool, silk and Tencel.  Designed, woven and sewn in my studio.  Wear for a bit of color and texture accent, they provide warmth as well.

Thanks for modeling daughter -- reading all those fashion mags pays off!!

The Mean Kitty Song

free ranging kats

Not everyone loves cats but they might love 'kats'.  These 'kats' went to the holiday bazaar, they were a pretty popular show.  Made with vintage and other choice wools, filled with polyfil, they come alive when I hand sew their cute little faces.

You can sleep with them, hang them on the wall or sit them at the piano, they really like sitting on the sofa looking cool. Guaranteed not to shed, they never need a litter box (that's the best), oh and you don't have to wear oven mitts when you play with them.

 Dawson and Marshmallow

Spice Girl

Notes on Fibers

New scarves and one of the new 'kats' I'm making.  The scarves are made of silk and Tencel, the bottom left has linen in the mix.  The kats are all made with wool, hand sewn faces and filled with polyfil.


About  Tencel or lyocell I have been curious, I like it and use it a lot. 
Lyocell is regenerated cellulose fiber made by dissolving pulp (bleached wood pulp).  It was first manufactured in 1987 in the UK, as of 2010 it is manufactured by Lenzing AG.  Tencel is a brand name also owned by the manufacturer Lenzing AG of Austria, this company also manufactures in the US and the UK
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) defines lyocell as "a cellulose fabric that is obtained by an organic solvent spinning process", it's classified as a sub-category of rayon.
This fiber shares many properties with other cellulosic fibers such as cotton, linen and ramie.
It is soft, absorbent, strong when wet or dry and resistant to wrinkles.  It can be machine washed, hand-washed or dry-cleaned.  It drapes beautifully.
The closed-loop manufacturing process makes lyocell inherently the most eco-friendly of the naturally regenerating fibers.
I use it as warp and weft, when warping with lyocell you don't have the static that silk presents.  I love the way it drapes, the sheen of the finished piece and it's endurance.  

New work

New work from my studio.  Little jackets or vests made from linen, silk, wool. 

Very busy lately getting ready for a holiday show in St. Paul, MN and Sno-Crush at 

Avalanche  Looms in Avalanche, WI  

A Design Idea

Paint your fridge and add pizazz to your kitchen.  Put some bumper stickers on it to make it even more interesting.  There you go -- an artistic idea for you to chew on.
Here is a photo of my fridge -- which by the way is green in more ways than one.  It's a Sun-Frost and it runs on the batteries that power our house after the sun charges them up.

I wish I had more stickers - but, I'm picky when choosing what to put here.  People know you by the 'artistic' statements you make .

Prairie Grass Weaves

Three grass weaves, handwoven in reppweave design pattern with pearl cotton and native grasses harvested from where I live.  Garrison Keillor was in our town this week promoting the new community radio station WDRT. He shopped at our artist cooperative gallery, VIVA Gallery - and bought one of these. !!!  Thanks very much famous radio man for supporting local art and artists.

Go to VIVA Gallery to see more of what we have.  If you see something you want contact the individual artist by email.  We ship.