Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival
A celebration of fiber arts and old-time artisan skills!
2025 Dates: Friday, June 6 & Saturday, June 7
Entertainment
If you are interested in finding out if your skills are suited to our festival, please contact us:
EntertainmentHHFF@gmail.com
Free Lectures Series Schedule:
Our lecture series is free to attend, with seating on a first come basis.
No registration is required.
Friday:
12 P.M. - How to Make an Award Winning Garment with Shawna Flammer
1 P.M. - Perfect Fit Sweater with Paige Shipley
3 P.M. - Meet our Artist In Residence: Julie Benac, and hear her story of how she came to be a fiber artist.
Saturday:
10 A.M. - Ready, Set, Dye! with Gina Levesque
11 A.M. - Exploring Diagonal Weaving with Julie Benac our Artist In Residence
1 P.M. - Judging a Fleece with Jamie Stark
2 P.M. - Spin Award Winning Skeins with Shawna Flammer
Free Lecture Series in 2024
Meet our Artist In Residence: Julie Benac
Free Lecture by Julie Benac
Friday 3 P.M.
Get to know the 2024 Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival Artist In Residence, Julie Benac. Join Julie as she takes you along on her journey through the fiber arts. From her beginnings to her current passions, and even future pursuits. Julie is avid teacher and enthusiastic individual, and you're sure to be inspired by her creativity.
Lecture held in the Special Exhibit Hall between Magill and Herring Halls
Exploring Diagonal Weaving with Julie Benac our Artist In Residence
Free Lecture by Julie Benac
Saturday 11 A.M.
Our Artist In Residence, Julie Benac, has been exploring diagonal weaving and how to apply it to garment making. She is excited about a recent pattern she is developing. Join Julie's discussion of how she is furthering her pursuit of fiber arts and what she will do to develop this idea into a future class that she can teach to others.
Lecture held in the Special Exhibit Hall between Magill and Herring Halls
Ready, Set, Dye!
Free Lecture by Gina Levasque
Saturday 10 A.M.
Acid dyes, fiber reactive dyes, natural dyes, what do they all mean? When should you use what? How are they different? What equipment do you need for each? In this class, we will explore all the different types of dyes, how to set-up your dye workshop, how to mix dyes to get the color you want, and how to dispose of the various dye baths.
Lecture held in the Special Exhibit Hall between Magill and Herring Halls
Perfect Fit Sweater
Free Lecture by Paige Shipley
Friday 1 P.M.
Make your next sweater your best sweater!
Discuss how to measure your body, make changes to patterns, go over some math to resize or correct gauge issues. Yarn substitutions...why some work and some don't. This class is very body-positive, looking at clothing construction with a critical eye and adjusting existing patterns to make your knits more flattering.
Booklets will be available for purchase at Hoosier Hills.
Lecture held in the Special Exhibit Hall between Magill and Herring Halls
Judging a Fleece
Free Lecture by Jamie Stark
Saturday 1 P.M.
Jamie Stark will return to lead us through the details of how to judge a fleece before purchasing. Jamie is co-owner of Wooly Knob Fiber Mill and will have a booth at this year's festival. With a great depth of knowledge, Jamie will review fleece submissions and discuss with the audience pros and cons of the fleeces, and give tips to buyers for what to look for in a fleece. Many competition fleeces will be available to purchase.
Lecture held in the Special Exhibit Hall where the Lectures and Fleece Sale is held (a.k.a. the Shooting Sports Club building).
How To Make An Award Winning Garment
Free Lecture by Shawna Flammer
Friday 12 P.M.
Improve your garment making skills by learning the fine details that a judge of a competition looks for when evaluating your items. Did you choose the right yarn for the project type? Does the yarn work for the pattern? How a judge knows if you followed the pattern correctly? If you would like to bring a garment for Shawna to go over with you, you can have it evaluated after the talk and learn how to make your work even better.
Lecture held in the Special Exhibit Hall where the Lectures and Fleece Sale is held (a.k.a. the Shooting Sports Club building).
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Spin Award Winning Skeins
Free Lecture by Shawn Flammer
Saturday 2 P.M.
Fine tune your spinning knowledge but learning how a judge of a spinning competition grades yarns. How do you pick the right fiber for your intended use. If you want to make a yarn that will felt, how do you know what to look for in a fiber? Shawna will talk about different fibers from different animals and how to tailor your spin so that you make your yarn right and even impress a judge.
Lecture held in the Special Exhibit Hall where the Lectures and Fleece Sale is held (a.k.a. the Shooting Sports Club building).
Demonstrations, Guilds, and fun!
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Sheep to Shawl Demonstration
Sheep to Shawl Demo: Conner Prairie Youth
Saturday 10 A.M. to 2 P.M.
The young fiber artists of the Conner Prairie Youth group will show us how a fleece can be transformed into a beautiful shawl, all right before your eyes!
Demonstration held in the Special Exhibit Hall where the Lectures and Fleece Sale is held (a.k.a. the Shooting Sports Club building).
Indianapolis Chapter of Embroiderers Guild of America
Guild members will be at our festival on Friday & Saturday performing demonstrations and will have samples of their work. If you're interested in joining their group, this is a great time to learn more!
The Lama Reserve Q&A
Friday & Saturday throughout the day
The Lama Reserve is a group dedicated to the preservation of all camelids in North America. They are a network of camelid aficionados spanning from coast to coast across the United States. They work to rehabilitate neglected and injured llamas and alpacas alongside the permanent residents at their farm.
If you would like more information on their group or animals, please email: lamareserve@thecolorfield.com
The Lama Reserve group has animals that are available for adoption.
Shearing Demonstrations
Yvonne Coffelt-Jones
Friday & Saturday throughout the day
Stop by and watch an expert shear fiber animals to harvest their fleeces for all of us to turn into amazing fiber art creations.
Come Join Us Clowns
A jovial troupe of clowns will be wandering the festival on Friday, bringing mirth and joy to all.
There will also face painting and balloon figures by them!
Musical Entertainment
Alan Pancake is a gospel piano player, born and raised in Southern Indiana. Alan started at the piano when he was 4 years old and has never lost his passion for it. Come and experience his unique approach as he mixes elements of jazz and blues into many of the old standards, and some current, contemporary music.
Alan will be playing music at the festival throughout the day on Friday, near the Gazebo and Lecture Hall
Bloomington Spinners & Weavers Fiber Art Guild
Join the members of the guild as they lead your through demonstrations of the fiber arts.
The Bloomington Spinners and Weavers Guild mission is to educate all persons who are interested in the rich and diverse fields of fiber arts. We strive to encourage creativity and excellence, as well as ensure the preservation of our fiber arts heritage.
It’s a great opportunity to get to know them better and join the guild!