Weavers and Spinners Guild experiences a resurgence

12/4/2024

The halls of Franklin Jr. High lead to an array of organizations including Project Iowa, the Japan America Center of Iowa, the Central Iowa Wind Ensemble and more. The Des Moines Weavers and Spinners Guild meets in one room, which it is quickly outgrowing. 

The Weavers and Spinners Guild has been active since 1945. Guild President Cherie Maxson has a wealth of knowledge about the group and has helped lead it into a resurgence. 

“I started spinning in about 2011. I found the guild in 2014 and joined it. At that point, they were meeting at a church on Douglas. The guild was very slowly dying out. There were probably 14 or 15 people who were regularly involved, and then they were unable to find people to take on the leadership roles,” Maxson said.

In 2019, Maxson became vice president while fellow weaver and spinner Shari Janssen became president of the guild. It was then that they moved into Franklin Jr. High. Now, the guild regularly has 40-45 people show up for meetings and more than 100 members. The guild now teaches classes, hosts demonstrations in the community and at the Iowa State Fair, and puts on its Fiber Fest event, while also providing a space for those simply looking for somewhere to practice their hobby and hone their skills.

“I was a knitter from the time I was in high school. I love the feel of fiber running through my hands. When I was a young mother, we made a trip to Colonial Williamsburg, and I saw a demonstrator there spinning on a wheel. I thought I would love to do that, but I didn’t know where to learn,” Maxson said.

She would learn how to weave from Rosemary at Rose Tree Fiber Shop (now closed) in Ames.

“A lot of us learned from Rosemary,” she said.

Her passion for the practice, which dates back to the Stone Age, is a good indicator as to why Maxson has been able to grow the Guild.

“Whether I’m weaving with it, whether I’m spinning it, whether I’m knitting it, I love talking about it. I love sharing it with other people and seeing their excitement when the penny drops and they figure out what they’re doing and how they can use that skill,” Maxson said.

Two pieces she made for her husband spring to mind when asked what some of her favorite works are.

“I made him a hand-knit sweater from a fleece that I bought, washed, processed myself, spun and then altered the pattern. He wears it all of the time. A few years ago, he said he really would like a poncho,” Maxson said. “I had a fleece that I had spun, and I chose dyes, did some dye experiments, figured out the three colors I wanted it to be, wove him a poncho, sewed the seams together, and he wears it all the time. Every time he’s cold, it’s either the sweater or the poncho.”

Maxson has made rugs, kitchen towels, belts and more. With the way the Guild has grown, it’s helped teach even her, new techniques. 

“I learned how to do Navajo-style weaving. It is the way the Navajos weave down in New Mexico. And I have a couple of teachers from down there that came up here a couple of years ago and taught for us, very lovely master weavers, Navajo women in their 60s. There’s no hemming, there’s no fringe to tie, there’s no ends to weave in. It’s just a beautifully woven piece,” Maxson said.

Maxson would like to see the guild continue to welcome other styles and techniques.

“I would love to see us incorporate more people from cultures other than the American tradition, because weaving is a human activity. I think the oldest fibers they have found now are 30,000 years old,” Maxson said. “It has developed all around the world, in all cultures. Everybody makes cloth of some kind, and I would love to have more diversity like that.”

Maxson did not get into this hobby until later in life, but it was something she was interested in early on.

“I wish I had known about this when I was 18 or 20, because I find it so exciting. I find it so satisfying, both intellectually and creatively. And I want other people to have that opportunity,” Maxson said.

Considering they are starting to grow out of their current space, filled with weaving and spinning instruments, material and projects, Maxson and the other leaders have big hopes and dreams for where they would like to see the guild grow.

“Who would ever have thought that we would come this far in five years? Where would we like to see it go? A group of us went to the Iowa Federation of Weavers and Spinners meeting, and the talk in the car was, wouldn’t it be cool if we had our own building?” Maxson said.