Spinners were able to learn the characteristics of four bast fibers first hand by spinning a representative selection of four different fibers.  (Bast fibers are produced from the stem of plants and as you might guess, tend to be long, stiff and strong – just like the stem.)  All kits included flax, hemp and bast bamboo, plus one of ramie, banana, pineapple or Himalayan nettle.

Using thin sheets of pressed cork, participants in this Jumpstart wove coasters or mats of various sizes. Each person received plain, 6″ X 12″ sheets of cork, cut them to a size that worked for their personal design, then wove and glued these strips to create coasters or larger mats. As you can see, one doesn’t have to stop at just the weaving! Vinyl cutouts, ribbon and even printing on the cork using a printer were used to enhance the cork.