DARYL LANCASTER
FIBER ARTIST   
NEW JERSEY

Between the sewing machine and the loom, my journey in the fiber arts has taken over 40 years. From an alterations business at 15, to production hand-woven clothing, to custom art to wear, my work has covered, adorned, and embellished the female body for as long as I can remember. The skills I have developed sewing unusual fabrics, such as handwovens, and the years of experience fitting the female body have made for an interesting combination of material to offer in workshops, seminars, and lectures.

From how-to, to what-if, my workshops cover a broad range of topics, primarily in garment construction and finishing techniques for hand-weavers and other types of fiber artists. I am also available for lectures and workshops to schools, communities, Scouts, and other types of organizations for kids from pre-school through middle school and beyond. Please go to Special for Kids.

In my artwork, I use clothing as a canvas, it is the covering for our body which is the covering for our soul. Instead of using clothing to hide figure flaws and perceived defects, we should be using clothing to celebrate the soul within, to sing, to decorate, to embellish, and what better vehicle than something that has come from our own hands.  My art garments use piecing techniques to recycle anything that resembles fiber. The use of recycled fibers, handwovens, animal furs, old bits of embellishment, allows me to revisit the past, not to dwell on what wasn't, but to learn and enjoy from past mistakes and experiences which have shaped who I have become.  Old work becomes new raw material.  Our lives are a constant process of recycled experiences.  The digital images used in my  art work give visual clarity to the clothing canvases.  Click on the Photo Gallery to view details of my art garments.

Sewing has taken on a new interest for a new generation. It not only reduces stress but allows us to create garments, body coverings, and accessories, which reflect and speak for the soul within. My workshops are about technique and philosophy, about discovering who we are and what we want to say. 

You may view my list of possible workshops and lectures by going to the Workshop Listings. You may download a PDF format prospectus for each workshop/lecture by clicking on the link listed in each topic.  Materials lists, facility requirements, workshop/lecture descriptions, and a brief bio are all available on the prospectus for that topic.  See link below for a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader (necessary to read PDF files).   If you would like to see my current teaching schedule, please go to the  2008-2009 Schedule. Thumbnails of the garments representing various workshops are with the Workshop Listings.   For other photographs and descriptions of my work, please go to the Photo Gallery.  To view my resume/bio, please go to Resume.

As Contributing Features Editor for Handwoven Magazine. www.interweave.com from 2002-2008, I wrote a number of articles including the popular Fashion and Color Forecast Column.   For a PDF file of my first article which appeared in the Nov/Dec 2000 issue (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) please go to Slice and Dice .  A list of all my articles, essays, and columns can be found in my  Resume.

If you would like to send me E-mail please contact me at theweaver@weaversew.com

For directions in a PDF format for the Triangular Buttonholes found in Tracy Kaestner's article in the November/December 2006 issue of Handwoven Magazine, click here, or on the link below.