Join the ranks of the Virginia makers reviving heritage crafts by learning fiber arts, woodworking, pottery, and blacksmithing.
In an age when you can order a mass-produced product online and have it delivered in only a few hours, Virginia makers are reviving heritage crafts that are produced using traditional manual techniques that have been passed down through the generations. These crafts often become heirlooms because of their durability and one-of-a-kind status.
Become a maker yourself by registering for one of these workshops focused on fiber arts, woodworking, pottery, and blacksmithing.
Fiber arts
The Knittin’ Coop
Location: 7 S College Ave., Salem, VA 24153
The Knittin’ Coop bills itself as your local yarn shop that feels like home.
The shop offers beginning knitting classes on a regular basis, as well as Sit-n-Stitch sessions, where locals drop in and knit together. As part of its mission to be a gathering place, it welcomes people from all walks of life to join its knitting community.
Waterford Craft School
Location: 40222 Fairfax St., Waterford, VA 20197
Learn a variety of fiber arts from master artisans at the historic Old School at the Waterford Craft School. Classes are small, allowing for individual attention. The goal of each class is to give students a finished project to take home.
Fiber workshops include quilted tree skirts, table runners, bobbin lace, weaving varafeldur scarves, bracelets from tablet weaving, and pine needle basketry.
Shenandoah CREATES
Location: Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah CREATES is a grassroots collective of local art enthusiasts that helps organize workshops focused on basket weaving. Classes range from miniature laundry baskets to Victorian-style market baskets, using techniques such as start and stop weaving, twining, triple twining, and overlay.
Classes are taught by experts like Anne Bowers, who has been making baskets for more than 43 years.
The Art League
Location: 105 North Union St., Alexandria, VA 22314
Visit The Art League in scenic Old Town Alexandria to learn fiber arts like weaving, spinning, knitting, tapestry, fiber sculpture, and rug hooking. Its fiber studio offers a large workspace that features floor looms, table looms, spinning wheels, and an extensive fiber library.
Courses range from beginner how-to guides to specific techniques. They’re taught by artists such as Sylvia De Mar, who has been spinning and teaching for more than 25 years.
The league also holds pottery and ceramics classes during the day and evenings during both weekdays and weekends. Beginners learn to use the wheel to craft basic vessels, while more experienced students learn more complex approaches, like design, glazing, and finishing techniques.
Instructors include experts like Lindsey Augustine, a Fairfax County schoolteacher who has appeared on HGTV.
MAKE Roanoke
Location: 128 Albemarle Ave. SE, Unit B, Roanoke, VA 24013
Learn the art of embroidery at MAKE Roanoke. Beginner-friendly classes will teach students how to give their favorite clothes a personalized touch with hand embroidery using straight stitch, backstitch, and French knots.
MAKE Roanoke is a nonprofit makerspace that promotes knowledge, skill, and creativity.
Woodworking
Heartmoor Farm
Location: 801 Perkins Rd., Kents Store, VA 23084
If you’re environmentally conscious and have a budding desire to learn woodworking, then Heartmoor Farm’s woodworking classes are for you because they use salvaged and reclaimed resources.
Students are taught a combination of theory and how-to knowledge. Some of the classes include wood anatomy, timber frame intensive, woodworking 102, intermediate carpentry, and advanced methods in wood.
Classes are taught by experts such as licensed contractor and building restorationist Robert Hale-MacKinnon.
O’Connor Woodworking & Education Center
Location: Virginia Beach
O’Connor Woodworking & Education Center offers year-round classes within a relaxed Virginia Beach environment. Expert woodworkers Rob Cosman, Kip Christensen, and proprietor Jeff O’Connor, who has 28 years of woodworking experience.
Some of the classes include hand plane basics, hand-cut dovetails, and bowl turning.
The Workbench RVA
Location: 3310 Rosedale Ave., Suite B2, Richmond, VA 23230
The Workbench RVA bills itself as Richmond’s public workshop, where everyone from beginners to seasoned professionals can work in a fully operational cabinet shop for a low monthly fee.
Those who want to try woodworking should consider signing up for one of the classes, which include Halloween coffins, bird feeders, and date night cutting boards for two.
Woodworking Workshops of The Shenandoah Valley
Location: 217 Helmley Ln., Berryville, VA 22611
Learn how to make traditional period furniture from the current owners of a family business that has been operating for more than 100 years at the Woodworking Workshops of The Shenandoah Valley.
Jeff Headley and Steve Hamilton offer classes for no more than five participants at a time, so you’re guaranteed one-on-one instruction. Classes range from the basics, like doors and dovetailed boxes, to advanced projects like carving a claw-and-ball foot and building a Chippendale chair.
Reston Community Center
Location: 2310 Colts Neck Rd., Reston, VA 20191
The Reston Community Center offers woodworking classes for both children and adults, all under the supervision of an expert.
One class even lets participants build their own wooden toy truck. No prior experience is needed.
Pottery
Common Clay
Location: 1111 Shenandoah Ave. NW, Roanoke, VA 24017
Billed as a creative sanctuary where people from all walks of life can come together to bond over a love for clay, Common Clay offers classes for all skill levels, from beginners to budding experts.
If you’re unsure whether working with clay will be for you, consider signing up for one of the “try-it” classes.
Manna Pottery
Location: 36 Pidgeon Hill Dr., Sterling, VA 20165
Manna Pottery has something for you, whether you’re looking for a one-day wheel throwing tryout or a multi-week course on hand building.
The studio strives to offer an opportunity for you to slow down and express yourself.
Potters Union
Location: 427 Carlisle Dr., Suite B, Herndon, VA 20170
The Potters Union prides itself on being more than a studio; it’s a place where visitors can explore their creative sides while being part of a larger community.
Try one of the workshops, like Wheel 101 or Personalized Luncheon Place Setting, if you’re just hoping to dip your toes in. If you’re ready to commit to a full course, consider the eight-week hand-building or wheel-throwing classes.
Clay Café
Location: 14511 #G Lee Jackson Memorial Hwy., Chantilly, VA 20151
Try your hand at the pottery wheel at Clay Café.
Classes typically run for 75 minutes, allowing participants to make one to two pieces. Pieces dry for up to two weeks, then participants are called back to paint their pieces before they’re fired. From there, the pieces are glazed and refired.
Staunton Clayground
Location: 123 West Frederick St., Staunton, VA 24401
Staunton Clayground offers classes for those who are both curious and obsessed with pottery, with flexible hands-on instruction focused on wheel throwing, handbuilding, and glazing.
The studio emphasizes a supportive, welcoming community where creativity is encouraged. Instructors like Mary Tuttle, who has been working with clay since 1982, ensure visitors have a good time.
Blacksmithing
Virginia Institute of Blacksmithing
Location: 724 N Augusta Ave., Waynesboro, VA 22980
Learn a skill that few others know, blacksmithing, at the Virginia Institute of Blacksmithing. The institute cautions that blacksmithing isn’t for the faint of heart, since it requires hard work and a lot of patience, and it involves getting hot and sweaty.
You can learn how to make a variety of pieces from the classes, including spears, throwing knives, tomahawks, hatchets, leaves, roses, irises, campfire cook sets, war hammers, and swords.
Lawless Forge
Location: 22611 Markey Ct., Ste. 106, Sterling, VA 20166
Lawless Forge offers public blacksmithing classes to help you create a finished product you’ll cherish for years to come. The classes include hands-on, personalized instruction on traditional blacksmithing techniques.
Plan to spend two to four hours at the studio, depending on the class you register for; classes focus on developing coat racks, horseshoe knives, Damascus steel rings, flower bouquets, chopsticks, barbecue forks, and bottle openers.
