A photographer and a fibre artist, Jessica Fern Facette (who goes by Fern, after her grandmother) is a creator at heart. Whether she's making Lady Craft portraits of friends and clients, capturing tangible moments of love at weddings or designing and creating textiles, Fern is forever creating and crafting. And because Fern's curiosity and experimentation with traditional fibre crafts like weaving, rug hooking, macramé and rug braiding is relentless and comprehensive – not to mention a big part of her everyday life – she started Fern’s School of Craft so she could teach others the basics, enabling them to confidently make their own crafts at home.
The workshops are in what Fern dubs the “Sky Office,” the penthouse studio downtown that she uses for her photography business. Tucked away in the back is an intimate, brightly-lit room adorned with Fern’s crafting supplies and projects. A maximum of eight participants cozy up to the table for an intensive course on each practice’s fundamentals, history and techniques. Fern says she started the school with the goal of guiding "people into doing the best that they're capable of so that they come out making beautiful, high-quality things.”
Because giving students an in-depth lesson is important to Fern, her classes are designed to match the craft’s complexity. Punch needle rug hooking classes are four hours, traditional rug hooking classes are five hours, tapestry weaving classes (on portable looms) are five and a half hours and weaving classes (on floor looms) are eight hours. The extended class times ensure that every student leaves with an education, a project and a respect and love for traditional fibre crafts. Plus, Fern isn’t just a teacher, she’s a host – she has a knack for making students feel like they're not in her studio, but in her home.
