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Abby Bard at her loom. Photo by Jerry Dodrill.
I've been weaving and sewing most of my life.
As a child growing up in Washington, DC, I wove potholders and tiny rafts out of Popsicle sticks. My grandparents taught me to sew by hand, and, when I was 12 years old, I took a summer class in machine sewing and began making my own clothes.
In 1969 I moved to San Francisco and encountered the explosion of creativity happening there, particularly in the fiber arts. Putting my sewing skills to work, I earned money designing clothing, some of it embellished with embroidery and patchwork.
In the winter of 1973-1974 I spent several months in Central America, and learned to weave on a backstop loom in Panajachel, Guatemala from Lucia DeLeon Queche, a Guatemalan woman of Mayan descent.
My first weaving teacher Lucia and her daughter Paola
On my return to San Francisco, I studied weaving on a 4-harness floor loom with fiber artist Anne Wilson at the DeYoung Museum school, where I met my dear friend and mentor Rebecca Lyon.
In 1977, the year my son Joey was born, our family moved to Sebastopol, California. Two years later, I began working for Margaret Fisher of Greentree Weaving, who introduced me to production weaving. I spent four years at Greentree, ultimately supervising production and designing color schemes.
I left Greentree in 1983 and started my own business, Abby Bard Designs, weaving fabrics for home and office interiors and selling them through interior design showrooms around the country. In 1988, I returned to weaving clothing, including wool capes, hats and throws, and the rayon chenille scarves and hats which are the foundation of my current line.
I'm very grateful that my work has connected me to other weavers around the world, particularly in Mexico, Guatemala, Peru and Thailand. I am honored to be a part of this beautiful and useful tradition.
When I'm not weaving, I'm most likely in my garden, a constant source of inspiration.
Handwoven clothing and fabrics for the home, woven from vibrant cotton, rayon chenille, silk and wool yarns in a wide range of uniquely blended colors.
email Abby Bard at abbybard@yahoo.com
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