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RESEARCH
The former Marshfield Center for Textile Research is now under the Weaver's Croft umbrella and is very committed to furthering research in historic equipment and textiles. We are open to any and all research ideas and to offer students the chance to have access to our amazing collection of historic textiles and equipment.
BY HAND
Reclaiming the Art of Historic Sail Making
July 25 & 26, 2026
There has been a resurgence of interest in the study and making of historic sails that span different time periods, geographies and functions. This two-day symposium brings together historic and contemporary practitioners, interdisciplinary researchers, and weaving and maritime enthusiasts from around the world to share knowledge around the history of sails made by hand.
The symposium will explore sails made in different eras and locations, including the Viking ship’s square sail, the early sailing craft of New England colonists, and the unique sails of the fishing vessels of Ireland. Additionally, the symposium will explore the tools and materials necessary to make and maintain sails and cordage.
EVENTS
PRESENTERS (as of 3/2026)
Marc Shiner
Curriculum Leader Maritime Studies UHI Orkney
Making Large Sails in Small Spaces: Rediscovering Sailmakers’ Mathematics
Jenny Baxter
Owner - Gambell & Hunter Sail Loft
Rockport, Maine
Demonstrating the Making of a Main Sail
Mary K Bercaw Edwards
Mystic Seaport
Sail Cloth in Herman Melville’s Works
Marcail Riggs
Mystic Seaport
Making a Ditty Bag
Emily Whitted
PhD Candidate at UMass
Sail Repair in the Early Maritime Atlantic
Jim Mortimer
Mystic Seaport
Rope Making Workshop
DEMONSTRATIONS
Weaving Wool & Linen Sails on the Warp Weight Loom
Andrea Myklebust & Tina Bielenberg
Weaving Linen & Cotton Sail Cloth on 18th c. Handlooms
Kate Smith & members of the Weaver's Croft Study Group
Barking Cotton Sail Cloth for Irish Hooker Boats
Weavers Croft Study Group
Handspinning Wool & Linen for Viking Sails on a Distaff
Andrea Myklebust
PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP
Making a Ditty Bag
w/Marcail Riggs of Mystic Seaport
The course is intended for students to build a traditional style sailor's ditty bag using traditional materials and cloth made at The Weaver's Croft. Over the course of two days, you will learn how to hand stitch, grommet and rope your own bag.
July 23 & 24, 2026
$200
Projects & Study Groups
Historic Sail Making
Lately we've had two people express an interest in making historic sail cloth - one from the 1700's in linen and the other from the 1800's in cotton calico. In the process of researching both these different techniques we have realized that there is quite a bit of historic evidence in the trade of sail making.
Our warp weight loom students are also interested in making replicas of Viking sails made from wool using the warp weight loom. Let us know if you would be interested in joining this group - info@weaverscroft.net
Shown above - J.E. Riggin
photo from the Maine Windjammer Association
Calimanco & Glazing
Fabric Finishes of the 18th c.
Kate Smith and Eaton Hill Textile Works spent 10 years studying the unique fabric finishes of embossing and glazing and eventually was able to reproduce fairly accurate embossed patterns for upholstery and bed hangings. The glazed fabrics used for whole cloth quilts and some historic clothing fabrics such as calimanco still remained out of reach. Our hope is to continue working on solving that mystery and to achieve a workable finish that rivals those on some of our historic pieces.
Contact Kate if you are interested in this topic.
Reproducing the Clothing Fabrics from the Homer Collection
This amazing collection of clothing fabrics from the 1850's was gifted to one of our teacher trainers and we have decided that it would be an amazing project to try and reproduce them as accurately as possible. Starting with spinning the singles warp yarn at 5000 yd/lb and then using natural dyes to achieve the correct colors. We will ultimately make the seven different fabrics and some are even woven with a very fine singles cotton. Let us know if you would like to join this study group - info@weaverscroft.net
Early Hand Loom Survey
Since first being introduced to working with early hand looms when attending the Marshfield School of Weaving in 1979, Kate Smith has been completely fascinated with these unique tools ever since. Both of her ex-husbands began to collect and restore looms to pass on to other students and it finally became obvious that some sort of data base was needed to collect information on all the looms that were coming through our hands. If you have an early hand loom please fill out the survey.
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