In Estonia We Have Great Weaving Classes and Talented Teachers for Both Belt and Fabric Weaving
About the weaving tour in August 2025:
DAY1 – gorgeous TURGI HANDICRAFT FARM and glamorous KADRINA MANOR welcomed us warmly. We started our weaving tour today and got right at it. Our teacher for the next three days was Veinika Västrik, a very well known weaver and weaving teacher in Estonia. She is also an author and a co-author of several books about weaving. She really makes this craft fun.
It was a great bunch of women, each and every one of them charming and funny. It was so much more than just another weaving class.
Also, we are being served the most delicious food: gluten free, lactose free, sugar free and so tasty that you can feel your stomach thanking you.
DAY2 – we discovered picturesque PEIPSIMAA, the towns and villages around the Lake Peipsi, the fourth biggest lake in Europe. There were home cafe days in Peipsimaa and it was a perfect opportunity to go and see how people live.
Also, there was a lot of weaving invloved. We wove in the morning and we wove in the afternoon . . . the best of us stayed at the farm and wove until late evening hours.
DAY3 – WEAVING, WEAVING, AND MORE WEAVING . . . and we are done. So much joy of finishing your work and meeting you fabric for the first time in its full glory.
DAY4 – BLOCK PRINTING AND CHICORY
Today we visited the Peipsimaa Heritage Center and learned a lot about the local history, we heard about chicory farming and onion growing, about the Old Believers and wood carving. Heiki is such and interesting and funny guide, he got us hooked for a long time. We saw some old printing blocks and admired the beautiful indigo textiles by the textile artist Õnne Uus. In the afternoon we visited Laidi’s Garden in Mustvee.
DAY5 – BELT WEAVING
Today we had a wonderful day with Piia Rand, who taught us some tricks and trades of the traditional Estonian belt weaving. She is a great belt weaving master, teacher and an author of a book about belt weaving. It is also translated into English, but unfortunately out of print.
First we were blown away by a beautiful display she had put together of a 20+ belts she had woven. She gave us a short intro into the history of woven belts in Estonia.
She brought three inkle looms, two of them had warp on, and the third one was used to show us how it is done. Ellen got right on it, chose some beautiful color yarns and the loom got warped. Then we made the “butterfly” of the linen yarn, which we used for weaving, choose a nice pattern and got to work.
DAY6 – KOLKJA, NINA AND ALATSKIVI were our destinations today. We started our day with a guided tour by the owner in a very special house in Kolkja Village. Aleksei told us a lot about the Old Believers history and showed us around in a house his grandfather (born in 1887) built using the material from an old manor house. Hence they have 4,5 m high ceiling, so the manor house ovens would fit nicely in.
After the lunch in a restaurant located in an old stable we headed toward the lake again, visited Nina Village cemetery and the local orthodox church there. Then we had a tour in Alatskivi Manor House, followed by a nice dinner in the mansion.
I welcome you to Estonia for some wonderful weaving experience.