Learn more about in-person workshops for MAFA 2o25!
- All workshops are offered as single, 2-1/2 day, intensive sessions. Students will choose ONE workshop.
- Find details about all our workshops in the list below. Use the filters in the sidebar to refine the workshop list.
- For workshops that fill quickly, there will be a waitlist, and you may waitlist one workshop.
Can’t take a full workshop but want to visit on the weekend? Check out the Weekend Classes page for details on short classes on Friday afternoon and Saturday. Find housing options on the Daytrippers, Overnighters, and Non-Workshop Attendees page.
Click here for the list of 2025 Instructors
Have questions about workshops? Visit the Workshops FAQs page, or email the Education Chair at education@mafafiber.org.
Conference Advertiser Confirmation
Thank you for advertising with the MAFA 2025 Conference! We will be back in touch with you shortly to confirm your information. If you have any questions in the meantime, […]
Learn MoreOpen Studio Tour
Tour the workshop classrooms to see what is going on in all the workshops Open Studio Tour will be on Saturday evening, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. We will have a […]
Learn MoreMAFA 2025 Workshop Locations
Get acquainted with your workshop location and the Millersville University campus with this table and the campus map, which is here. (link coming in Spring 2025) Download the workshop locations […]
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MAFA 2025 – Beta
MAFA 2025 – June 26-29, 2025, at Millersville University! With dozens of in-person workshops in weaving, spinning, dyeing, felting, basketmaking, and other fiber arts, MAFA 2025 is sure to be […]
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Weekend Class Information Form
Please submit one form for each class you will be teaching. MAFA 2025 Weekend Classes will be scheduled on Friday June 27, 2025, 1:30 – 4:30 pm, and Saturday June […]
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Vendor Housing Info and Registration
If you have been approved as a 2025 vendor, and you want to register for on-campus housing and meals, please use this form to select your housing and make payment. […]
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Towel Exchange Entry Confirmation
Thank you for submitting your Towel Exchange Entry. You will receive a confirmation email. Remote entrants, you will be sent shipping instructions. If you don’t receive your confirmation email, check […]
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Weekend Classes
Not taking a workshop? Visiting for the day? Join us for fiber arts classes in the Marketplace. Classes will include two or three-hour classes Friday afternoon and all-day Saturday in […]
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Spinning Games
Join us for Spinning Games Friday evening in the Marketplace, with our host Tom Knisely! Stay tuned for more details. We will open signups on February 17, 2025. To try […]
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Makers Meetup
Join us at the Makers Meetup in the Marketplace, Friday afternoon and all-day Saturday. Relax, shop, meet fiber friends, work on projects, take a break from Weekend Classes, and join […]
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A Little Something Extra: Supplementary Warps and Wefts
Enhance your handwoven textiles with the addition of supplementary warp or weft yarns (or both!)
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Instructor Information and Links
Instructors for MAFA 2025, here is a compilation of information and links that have been sent out by email as we got to each milestone. We thought it might help […]
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Last Minute Information
Directions and Important Info for MAFA 2025 Can you help at the conference?As an all-volunteer organization, MAFA relies on conference attendees to help make the event run smoothly. Can you […]
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Getting There
The MAFA 2025 conference will be held at Millersville University, Millersville, PA. This university campus is located in south-central Pennsylvania’s historic Lancaster County. Directions to Millersville University (download as a […]
Learn More Kitchen Towel Exchange Entry Form
Kitchen Towel Exchange Rules, Requirements, Information, and Entry Form Show off your weaving and towel making skills by having a good old-fashioned kitchen towel exchange. Everyone who participates takes home […]
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Kitchen Towel Exchange
Show off your weaving and towel making skills by having a good old-fashioned kitchen towel exchange. Open to all conference attendees, as well as MAFA members who are unable to attend […]
Learn More Functional Textiles Exhibit – Entry Form
Functional Textiles Exhibit Entry Rules, Requirements and Information: MAFA conference attendees and members are invited to submit non-wearable, functional textile items such as: rugs, blankets, table runners, baskets, yardage, and […]
Learn More Fiber Art Exhibit – Entry Form
Fiber Art Exhibit Entry Rules, Requirements and Information: MAFA conference attendees and members are invited to submit non-wearable, artistic works with the theme The Art of Making: A Continuum. Fiber […]
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The Art of Making: A Continuum – Fiber Art Exhibit
Returning to the 2025 conference will be a Fiber Art Exhibit featuring artistic works with the theme The Art of Making: A Continuum. Fiber artists, including conference attendees, and MAFA […]
Learn More Fashion Show & Exhibit – Entry Form
Fashion Entry Rules, Requirements and Information: MAFA conference attendees and members are invited to submit original wearables. Consider choosing an item related to the 2025 Conference theme: Hands On. We […]
Learn More Spotlight on Fashion
The 2025 Fashion Exhibit will feature garments and accessories created by conference attendees, as well as MAFA members who are unable to attend in-person. Located in the exhibit area of […]
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Interactive Exhibit
We look forward to welcoming Theda Sandiford back to the conference with a new interactive exhibit in the Marketplace Stay tuned for more information this Fall when we confirm all […]
Learn MoreMillersville University Campus Map
Please note: this is the 2023 campus map, for information only. We will update this to the 2025 map when we have classroom buildings confirmed by MU. We will still […]
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Workshop FAQs
Where will my workshop be located? Classroom locations will be posted on the website when they become available on a Last Minute Info page. You will also receive a handout […]
Learn More FAQs & Useful Information
You have questions. We have answers. MAFA has received lots of questions over the years, many of which are the same from conference to conference. This compilation is for those […]
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Housing and Dining Info
Housing and Dining Info: What housing options are available? In 2025, we will again be housed in West Village Dorm. West Village is close to the Student Memorial Center, which […]
Learn More Daytrippers, Overnighters & Weekend Guests
We Welcome Daytrippers, Overnighters, and Weekend Guests at the Conference! The Marketplace, Exhibits, Makers Meetup, and Weekend Classes are all open to the public, including our “Shop ’til You Drop” […]
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Workshop Registration
What you need to know about registering for a workshop at MAFA 2025 Workshop Registration Dates: Workshop Registration Info: Housing and Dining Info for Workshop Students: Housing for Weekend Guests […]
Learn More Schedule & Events 2025
Spend the weekend—or spend a day—with fiber artists from around the world at MAFA 2025 MAFA 2025 is not only about the weekend-long workshops and shopping in the Marketplace. Other […]
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Exhibits and Exchange
MAFA 2025 will return to Millersville for our conference, and we have an option for exhibit entries from those who can’t attend! We are planning the ever-popular fashion show, textile […]
Learn More2025 Advertiser Form
Fill out the form below to submit an advertisement for the MAFA 2025 Conference. We will follow up with you to confirm placement of your ad, and for logos or […]
Learn More Vendor Application Form Submitted
Thank you! We have received your Vendor Application for the MAFA 2025 Conference, and we will contact you shortly. If you have any questions, email the Vendor Coordinator at vendors@mafafiber.org.
Learn MoreAdvertise at the Conference
Advertising Opportunities for MAFA 2025 Who are we?MidAtlantic Fiber Association is a non-profit, all-volunteer fiber arts organization consisting of 50+ member guilds from Connecticut to North Carolina, with a combined […]
Learn More 2025 Vendor Information & Application Form
We are accepting vendor applications for the vendor hall at the MAFA 2025 Conference to be held Thursday, June 26 through Sunday June 29, 2025 at Millersville University in Millersville, […]
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Marketplace & Vendors
VENDORS: If you want to apply for a vendor booth at MAFA 2025, find complete info and the application form HERE. The Marketplace has convenient access to yarns, fiber, tools, and […]
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Fiber to Fabric: How the Underlying Fiber Informs the Knitted Fabric
From dependable sheep’s wool to tricky rayon, every yarn is individual. Each type of fiber, from a specific breed of sheep or other fiber-bearing animal, from plants like bamboo, hemp and flax, manmade or remanufactured, brings its own distinct benefits and challenges to a knitting project.
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Sprang Lace
So you’ve mastered the basics of sprang, and want to take it to the next step. This class accompanies you on your exploration of sprang lace including warping methods to create a piece that is twice the length of your frame.
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Mosaic Nuno Felt Coat
Learn mosaic nuno felt techniques that are perfect for using recycled fabrics, along with a few silks, while making a custom fit coat.
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Eco-Printed Felt Bags: Combining Felt and Nature
Create beautiful eco-printed bags using the wet-felting method with natural Merino wool top and eucalyptus leaves.
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Willow Garden Trug
Construct a functional garden trug from willow using traditional European stake and strand techniques. Students will learn how to weave a rectangular base, sides, border, and handle.
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Suminagashi Marbling and Asian-style Books
Students in this class will create their own marbled paper by exploring the art of Japanese marbling, then make wonderful books by exploring the traditions of stab binding and origami.
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Get Swept Away with Handmade Brooms
Part household essential, part woven sculpture, brooms have a rich history and are fun to make. Come learn to weave classic American sorghum hand brooms and branch out into experimental shapes and bindings.
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It’s In the Bag
Bring your scraps of handwoven and similar fabrics and construct an embellished bag inspired by Japanese rice bags called Komebukuro.
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African Vegan Art and Mixed Media
African Vegan Art is inspired by Bògòlanfini (mud-cloth) art – a handmade cotton fabric traditionally dyed with fermented mud and natural dyes, originating from Mali, West Africa. Learn this historical textile dyeing technique, and create stunning personalized artwork on silk to convey your story.
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Out of the Blue: Shibori and Indigo
Indigo is an ancient dye derived from the leaves of plants and surrounded by magic, mystery, and folklore. Discover how the leaves ‘make blue’ by learning about the character and chemistry of the indigo vat, then prepare your fabric for dyeing using traditional shibori resist techniques.
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Sheep to Skein
Many handspinners are eager to work with locally-grown wools, but may not feel sure of how to get started. In this workshop, we will discuss ways to connect with local wool growers, and what to do with your fresh fleece.
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One Handpainted Braid – Six Different Color Effects
Handpainted braids are wonderful sources of inspiration. Although much of the color work has been done by the dyer, it is up to you, the spinner, to effectively manage the color using color management techniques which lend your handspun a greater sense of balance, proportion and unity.
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Bast Fibers Plus: Spinning It All
Historically bast fibers have filled our linen closets and kept us clothed. These fibers are often proclaimed the oldest fibers found and dated archaeologically. Flax, hemp, ramie, and bamboo were important bast fibers grown in different world areas and cultures.
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Spinning for Consistency
How does one reliably create consistent yarns when handspinning? This workshop is an in-depth dive into methods and practices for handspinners that are specifically geared towards the goal of creating consistent handspun yarns.
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Spinning 201: Learn to Spin
Curious to learn how to spin your own yarn with a spinning wheel or e-spinner? This workshop offers an introduction to wheel mechanics, fiber tools, and the fascinating world of fibers.We’ll cover essential tips and methods, aiming to equip you with the confidence to craft your own handspun yarn.
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Old Friends with a New Look
Let’s have some fun with traditional drafts like M’s & O’s, overshot, gebrochen, and four block designs, with the end result looking nothing like what is normally produced from the threading.
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Weaving and Designing Four and Six Shaft Summer and Winter
There are endless options for weaving Summer and Winter using four or six shafts. In this workshop, start from the ground up learning about Summer and Winter’s unique threading and treadling rules, then deep dive into Summer and Winter’s ‘styles’ or ‘fashions’ and how they’re an integral part of the structure.
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Designing and Weaving Couture Tweeds
One of the most iconic garments in the history of fashion is the French cardigan-style jacket made famous by Coco Chanel. But, have you ever thought about the fabric used in these jackets? They are so ‘weaverly’ in a variety of ways. Color and texture abound! And Chanel was not the only couture designer to use these amazing fabrics.
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Beyond Rectangles: Shaped Edges in Weaving
Unlock the world of creative possibilities in weaving by breaking away from the standard rectangle. Delve into the art of weaving shaped edges. Learn to create geometric and organic shapes that can stand alone or are connected by raw unwoven yarn, creating dynamic movement.
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The Art of Weaving Transparencies
Learn about the weaving technique known as “transparency weaving”in which an open ground cloth is woven simultaneously with inlay using tapestry-based techniques that forms the design element.
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Designing with Deflected Doubleweave
Learn how to understand and design Deflected Doubleweave, including how to vary tieups and treadlings to create new designs, and different techniques for weaving selvages.
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Plaited Twills: The Double Two-Tie Connection
Plaited twills are patterns in which sets of parallel diagonal twill lines intersect with sets of lines going in the opposite direction so they appear like interwoven ribbons. On a straight twill threading, they require more than 8 or 12 shafts for all but the simplest designs. However, when plaited twills are woven on a double two-tie twill threading, the design possibilities on fewer shafts expand dramatically.
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Exploring Profile Drafting
Profile drafts are a wonderful design tool for weavers! This class explores what profile drafts are, what weave structures can be used, creating a profile draft, and converting it into a woven sample.
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The Hidden Potential of Crackle
Crackle doesn’t always get the attention it deserves! Once you understand how this structure works you can unlock the potential of unlimited experimentation with the use of color and different treadlings. Appreciate how fun and beautiful crackle can be!!
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Sashiko Ori
Sashiko-ori is a woven structure based on the Japanese folk stitching methods of sashiko used traditionally to patch, reinforce, repair, or embellish clothing and other textiles. Woven Sashiko challenges weavers to think about design in a different way while learning to control the intersections of pattern threads in the warp and weft.
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Color and Design in Huck Lace Towels
The structure of Huck Lace provides a treasure trove of pattern for weavers. You will learn how “blocks”or units of huck lace are threaded on four and eight shafts, and how they can be combined to expand design possibilities. Discussions will focus on converting a profile draft into a threading and treadling, and how literally thousands of designs are created with a single threading draft by changing the tie-up.
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Dynamic Duo: Two Heddles, Two Cloths
Introducing a second heddle to the rigid heddle loom opens up a myriad of new options for the cloth your loom can produce: you can increase your sett to get a finer fabric, you can double weave to make cloth wider than the loom and you can weave more complex, 3 shaft drafts without the need to employ a pick-up stick or heddle rod.
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Rigid Heddle Extravaganza
Do you have a rigid heddle loom that has been gathering dust? This is the refresher you need to get weaving again and take your weaving to the next level and all in a fun and easy way.
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Weft-Faced Weaves and Tapestry on Rigid Heddle Looms
Weft-faced and tapestry weaves create beautiful one-of-a-kind textiles that are perfect for bags, pillows and wall hangings. These techniques greatly expand the possibilities of what can be woven with a simple rigid heddle loom.
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Exploring 8-Shaft Straight Twill Variations
If you are new to 8-shaft weaving or if you want to add more variation to your weaving, this is the perfect workshop for you. Explore the possibilities of the 8-shaft straight twill threading. Learn to weave many variations on a single warp by varying the tie-up and treadling. Create original weave structures, and learn to combine two 4-shaft structures on one warp as well.
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4-Shaft Overshot with a Swedish Twist
Learn about overshot weaving with an emphasis on Swedish weaving techniques and patterns, while weaving a 12″ x 36″ runner which allows for sampling different treadling orders on the same threading.
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Experimentation with Weaving Tools: Open Reed and More
Tool Modification’ is a term that directs a weaver’s attention to the mutability of their looms and tools. In this workshop, we will identify opportunities for warp and weft manipulation through understanding loom workings, and use hand-manipulation techniques and alternative tools to give new meaning to our equipment.
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Crimp and Create
Learn to create “crimp cloth”fabric with permanently crimped designs that hold their memory even when washed. Apply this stash-busting technique to any threading and learn the thought process that will lead to endless possibilities for creating magic cloth.
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Controlling Creative Chaos: Focus on the Warp
Learn non-traditional techniques that will allow you to work effectively and efficiently with multiple warp chains and diverse warp elements while designing at the loom.
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Adding Lights to Woven and Felted Projects
Light up your weaving and felting projects with LEDs for a bit of attention-getting glitz. Using conductive yarn and wire, add simple LED circuits to an off loom woven pouch with flap, inkle loom strap, felted pods and flowers, and more.
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Introduction to Weft Ikat and Khmer Hol
Khmer Hol textiles are among the most intricate silk Ikats in the world. This workshop focuses on learning the techniques used by Cambodian artists to create these patterned wefts.
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Materiality: The Tactile Experience
The legendary weaver Anni Albers said “our tactile experiences are elemental” and that playful exploration of materials is essential to “regain a faculty that was once so naturally ours.” We will play with a wide variety of materials to create exploratory collages and an original woven composition.
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Kente Weaving on the Miniature Loom
Experience weaving Kente cloth on miniature looms and be able to create a Kente bookmark using colors of your choice. You will also have the opportunity to learn how to create geometrical designs on the loom and also learn some techniques such as using double shuttles in creating a design.
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Weaving 101: Learn to Weave
This is the perfect class for those who have never woven, or who need to brush up on the basics of warping and efficient weaving. Students will learn to dress their own loom, calculate warp and weft, and weave a sampler of plain weave and twill.
Learn MoreMAFA 2025 Logo Shops
Help support MAFA and the conference by shopping for swag with the MAFA 2025 conference logo or MAFA tools logo! All items are print-on-demand. Shop items include: mugs, travel mugs, […]
Learn MoreMAFA 2025 Workshop Proposals
The MAFA 2025 Conference will be held June 26 – 29, 2025, at Millersville University, Millersville, PA (between Harrisburg and Lancaster) We are seeking proposals for hands-on workshops in weaving, […]
Learn MoreVolunteer at MAFA 2025
The MAFA Conference is an all-volunteer effort, with many opportunities to get involved both before and at the conference. Before the Conference: planning is underway! Volunteers start working soon after […]
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MAFA 2025
MAFA 2025 – June 26-29, 2025, at Millersville University! With dozens of in-person workshops in weaving, spinning, dyeing, felting, basketmaking, and other fiber arts, MAFA 2025 is sure to be […]
Learn More Housing and Dining Info
Housing and Dining Info: What housing options are available? In 2025, we will again be housed in West Village Dorm. West Village is close to the Student Memorial Center, which […]
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Sample Vendor
Fiber arts equipment, tools and supplies, including yarns, dyes and fiber for spinning; books and digital video support products.
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