Craft | William Riedlinger | All Levels | All Day | Week 3 (July 21-26, 2024)
In this course you’ll learn how the peoples who inhabited the western edge of Scandinavia created functional yet decorative ribbons. Norway has a rich textile heritage
spanning from well before the Vikings to modern day; we’ll be focusing on some of the narrowest woven textiles and use various methods to create them. Patterns from Migration era (400-700 CE), Viking era (700-1100), Reformation (1550-1800), Union era (1800-1900), and patterns still in use today will showcase the incredible breadth of techniques and motifs available to the ribbon weaver. We’ll be using the three most common ribbon weaving techniques in use in Norway today, all of which have roots stretching centuries into the past: tablet weaving, ridged heddle weaving, and finger weaving. In Norwegian brikkeveving, grindveving, and bregding. All of these techniques are used in the Norwegian national folk wear, bunad; a clothing tradition that has been submitted to UNESCO on behalf of the Norwegian people for inclusion on their Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Experience level: This course is designed for beginners, however more complex techniques and patterns will give more experienced weavers enjoyment and satisfaction as well. Many weavers may also discover a new technique they haven’t tried before.
There will be a $40 materials fee added to your total when you register for this class.
About the Instructor
Teaching this course is William M A Riedlinger, the Craft Consultant for the south- western county of Rogaland in Norway. The Norwegian Folk Arts and Crafts Association, a
volunteer organization founded in 1910, employs one consultant in teach of Norway’s 19 former counties. Originally from Rochester, New York William has lived in Norway since August 2016. In 2023 he graduated from the University of South-Eastern Norway with a master’s degree in Traditional Art and a concentration in weaving. Since 2023 he has been working to gather and reconstruct ribbons from Rogaland used in the county’s first bunad.
