Amanda Robinette

Amanda Robinette is a professional weaver and Tai Chi instructor residing in Mechanicsburg, PA. While pursuing her interest in rag weaving as a form of recycling, she learned about the historical Japanese practice of sakiori, which is a form of rag-weaving focused on creating cloth for garments and household items from the best rags that can be obtained. She developed the concept of Western Sakiori to bring together these ideas with the types of cloth that are currently readily available in thrift shops in North America. Amanda has been writing, teaching and speaking about Western Sakiori since 2014. She has published several articles in Handwoven magazine, taught at The Mannings Handweaving School and as a guest at weaving guilds, and spoken at the Weaving History Conference at the Thousand Islands Arts Center and Handweaving Museum, as well as at weaving guilds across the U.S. Her work has also appeared in several books, including "Andean Sling Braids" (Rodrick Owen & Terry Newhouse Flynn, 2016, Schiffer Publishing Ltd.) and "Weaving Rag Rugs" (Tom Knisely, 2014, Stackpole Books). Amanda shares her interest in all kinds of weaving and clothing recycling on her blog at westernsakiori.com. Through combining her knowledge of weaving and Tai Chi, she also developed Tai Chi for Weavers, a program dedicated to teaching weavers how to use the principles of Tai Chi to improve their weaving ergonomics and stamina. She has taught the program at The Mannings Handweaving School and at weaving guilds, and in 2017 released the program on DVD. Her current work is focused on continuing to extend the possibilities of rag weaving, yarn recycling and Tai Chi programs for other fiber artists. She lives with her husband and two children (and lots of looms and rags) in central Pennsylvania.