Two Day Class: Fri & Sat. Sept. 25th & Sept. 26th (5:30 pm - 8:30 pm)

In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn how to transform cattails into cordage and weave that cordage into a small basket. We’ll begin with an introduction to cattails, including where they grow, how to harvest them responsibly, and their traditional uses.

The workshop will cover basic cordage-making techniques, including a two-strand twist and three-strand plait. Participants will then learn how to construct the center base of a basket and build its walls using their handmade cattail cordage, with raffia used as the threading fiber.

Day 1: Cattail Cordage
Learn how to prepare cattails and create cordage using basic twisting and braiding techniques.

Day 2: Basket Weaving
Use your handmade cordage to begin constructing a basket, learning how to build the base and walls with raffia as the threading fiber.

All materials will be provided, and no prior experience is necessary.

This class is taught by Abeni Pierson!

Abeni Pierson is a Chicagoland native, fiber artist, educator, and the founder of Where the Pines Grow. She studied fashion design at Columbia College Chicago, but over time felt pulled away from the fashion industry and toward a more sustainable way of making. She has taught for the last 4 years around Northern California and works with plant fibers she forages, cleans, and dyes by hand. She is committed to keeping the language of American folk arts alive by leading workshops around the U.S. in pine needle weaving, gourd carving, cattail weaving, and broom corn weaving. Her classes are welcoming and grounding, encouraging people to slow down, create with their hands, and reconnect with the natural world.