The Origin Story: The Pattern Never Planned

How does an artist find her voice? Sometimes through education and experimentation, sometimes through unexpected opportunities, and sometimes by simply looking out the window.

In this richly illustrated presentation, The Oregon Weaver shares the personal journey that transformed an early interest in sculpture, fiber, and natural dyes into a career creating distinctive handwoven garments.

The story begins with a high school aptitude test suggesting a talent for mechanics—a curious prediction that would eventually make sense when a 16-shaft AVL loom arrived in 13 boxes. Along the way came major weaving commissions for Sunriver Lodge and the historic restoration of Timberline Lodge, years of traveling to art fairs across the country, and serendipitous connections that opened doors to textile traditions in Italy and professional fashion photography.

Central to this journey is the Oregon Coast, where the changing landscape became a source of inspiration for color, texture, and design. What began as an exploration of weaving evolved into a personal artistic language, translating the natural world into cloth and transforming that cloth into wearable art.

Filled with archival photographs, beautiful textiles, memorable encounters, and a few unexpected twists, "The Origin Story" is a reflection on creativity, perseverance, lifelong learning, and the sometimes surprising paths that shape an artist's life.

Trash Bag Garment Design
An Exploration in Creative Garment Construction

What can you create with a few ordinary trash bags and a little imagination?

Quite a lot, as it turns out!

This lively, three-hour workshop invites participants to set aside conventional garment-making expectations and explore the possibilities of designing with an unexpected material.

Using ordinary trash bags, we'll experiment with cutting, folding, taping, braiding, and laminating to transform simple rectangular shapes into inventive wearable forms. Drawing inspiration from clothing traditions around the world, we'll investigate how flat materials can be shaped to fit and move with the human body.

Working with a partner, participants will explore proportion, structure, drape, and creative problem-solving as they develop their own garment designs.

We'll conclude with a lighthearted fashion showcase, sharing our creations and celebrating the unexpected discoveries made along the way.

No expensive fabrics or complicated patterns—just imagination, experimentation, and the freedom to explore new possibilities in garment design.

From Inspiration to Wearable Art

What inspires a handwoven garment? Where does the creative process begin, and how does an idea become something we can wear?

For Karen Gelbard, The Oregon Weaver, inspiration often begins with a sense of place, an intriguing material, or a story waiting to be told. The changing colors, textures, and moods of the Pacific Northwest—particularly the Oregon Coast—find their way into her handwoven scarves, shawls, jackets, and coats.

In this illustrated PowerPoint presentation, Karen shares the stories behind selected pieces of her work, following their journey from inspiration through weaving, design, and construction.

Along the way, she explores the creative decisions that give each piece its individuality: choosing fibers and colors, interpreting weaving structures, experimenting with textures, and discovering how cloth can influence garment design.

Featured examples include her Women of Steel series, in which fine steel wire was woven with soft chenille and the resulting fabric was free-motion quilted. This unexpected combination of materials and techniques illustrates how experimentation can expand the expressive possibilities of handwoven cloth.

Drawing on years of experience as a largely self-taught handweaver and garment designer, Karen shares the discoveries, challenges, and occasional surprises that have shaped her work.

Through photographs and stories from the studio, this presentation offers a personal look at the relationship between place, imagination, materials, and the maker's hand.

The place is woven into the work.

Weave, Cut, and Sew Your Own
A Three-Day Workshop for Handweavers

You've woven the cloth. Now comes the exciting—and sometimes intimidating—part: cutting into it!

This three-day workshop is designed for handweavers who are ready to transform their own woven yardage into a wearable garment. Together, we'll explore the decisions and techniques involved in working with handwoven cloth, from selecting a suitable pattern to cutting, fitting, and sewing a garment that celebrates the unique qualities of your fabric.

Day One — Two hour Zoom meeting for Preparation

We begin with an online session focused on planning and preparation. We'll discuss pattern selection, fabric layout, fit considerations, and the special characteristics of handwoven cloth. This advance preparation will help participants arrive ready to make the most of our time together.

Days Two and Three — Hands-On Workshop

During two days of in-person instruction, participants will lay out, cut, fit, and begin sewing their own garments. With individual guidance and creative problem-solving throughout, each participant will make meaningful progress while developing the skills and confidence to continue construction independently.

Friday Meet and Greet — 4:00–6:00 PM

Before our in-person workshop begins, we'll gather at the Kiawanda Community Center in Pacific City for an informal Meet and Greet. This is an opportunity to get acquainted, discuss projects, and set up sewing machines so we're ready to begin the following morning.

Learn from Experience

Working with handwoven cloth presents unique opportunities and challenges. Drawing on years of experience as both a handweaver and garment designer, Karen Gelbard will share practical techniques, creative approaches, and lessons learned from transforming her own woven fabrics into wearable art.

Whether you're making your first garment from handwoven cloth or looking to expand your garment-making skills, this workshop offers a supportive setting to explore the possibilities of the cloth you create.

Imagine Wearing Handwoven
Photography and Video for Handwoven Garments

You've designed the cloth, woven the fabric, and created a garment. Now, how do you capture its unique qualities in a photograph?

Photographing handwoven clothing presents special challenges. Texture, color, drape, and movement are essential to understanding a garment, yet these qualities can be difficult to convey in a still image.

In this presentation, Karen Gelbard chronicles her six-year collaboration with the style magazine Tearsheet PDX, sharing photographs created in their studio and the lessons learned along the way. She'll discuss practical considerations for photographing handwoven garments, including lighting, backgrounds, models, and composition.

Karen will also share her recent explorations into creating short videos that reveal what still photographs cannot—the movement of cloth, the changing shape of a garment, and the experience of seeing it worn.

Through photographs, video examples, and stories from behind the camera, this presentation explores ways to communicate the artistry of handwoven clothing and invite viewers to imagine themselves wearing it.

Projects in Public Spaces
How Karen Came to Think in Terms of a Hundred-Yard Warp*

What happens when a weaving project calls for hundreds of yards of fabric rather than a single garment or scarf?

In this illustrated PowerPoint presentation, Karen Gelbard shares her experiences creating handwoven textiles for public spaces, including two significant projects in Oregon.

Timberline Lodge — Preserving a Textile Legacy

Built during the Works Progress Administration (WPA) era, historic Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood is celebrated for its architecture, furnishings, and handcrafted textiles.

Karen explores the history of the lodge's textile restoration, including the role of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) in supporting the early restoration efforts of the 1970s.

She also shares her own involvement in weaving upholstery fabrics that honor the colors, patterns, and character of the original textiles. Working on this scale introduced new challenges in planning, production, and maintaining consistency over long lengths of handwoven cloth.

Sunriver Lodge — Designing for Public Spaces

Karen also recounts her collaboration with artist Larry Kirkland on the design and fabrication of 44 rugs for Sunriver Lodge in Central Oregon.

This project presented a different set of creative and practical challenges, demonstrating how textile artists contribute to larger architectural and interior design projects.

Through photographs, historical background, and personal stories, Karen reflects on the opportunities and challenges of creating textiles intended to become part of a public space.

From historic preservation to large-scale commissions, this presentation offers a look at how weaving can contribute to the places people gather, visit, and remember.

My Textile Workshop Adventures in Italy
Discovering the Threads That Connect Weaving, Fashion, and History

What can a handweaver discover while studying textiles in Italy? As it turns out, quite a lot!

Join Karen Gelbard, The Oregon Weaver, for an illustrated journey through her textile workshop experiences in Italy, where centuries of weaving traditions, innovative techniques, and remarkable stories of fashion come together.

From exploring the structure of a six-harness Diamantina twill to learning about silk lint and the extraordinary capabilities of Jacquard looms, Karen shares discoveries that expanded her understanding of textile design and production.

Along the way, we'll meet Eleonora di Toledo, a 16th-century noblewoman whose influence helped shape Renaissance fashion in Florence. Her story reveals the close relationship between textiles, clothing, craftsmanship, and the social history of dress.

Through photographs, workshop experiences, and personal observations, Karen reflects on the techniques and traditions she encountered and the ways they continue to inform her thinking as a contemporary handweaver and garment designer.

Part travel adventure, part textile history, and part creative discovery, this presentation invites fellow weavers to explore the threads that connect us to generations of makers who came before us.

Fabric Scrap Trees
Small Scraps, Creative Possibilities

Every weaver has them—those treasured little pieces of handwoven cloth too beautiful to throw away but too small for another project.

In this creative, hands-on workshop, we'll transform those leftover fabric scraps into unique, dimensional textile trees.

Using simple hand-assembly techniques, participants will explore how layers of cloth, color, texture, and shape come together to create a sculptural form. Heavy thread, florist wire, and buttons help bring the pieces together, while raw edges and loose threads contribute to the character of each tree.

Each creation will be different, reflecting the colors, fibers, and textures of the fabrics used. Whether made from coordinating remnants or a lively assortment of scraps, these little trees offer a playful opportunity to experiment with composition and design.

This workshop celebrates creative reuse, the beauty of handwoven textiles, and the satisfaction of making something new from materials we already have.

No sewing machine is required—just a collection of fabric scraps and a little imagination!

Join Karen Gelbard in the studio for demonstrations, guided practice, and creative exploration. Final workshop activities and project details will be announced.