A Woven Life

Theodosia artist weaves stories and memories into fiber art

Stories and memories abound in every piece of art displayed in the house. A homemade loom rests atop a piano in the corner. The intricate weaving of colorful thread is nearly complete. On the wall hangs a stunning tapestry next to the wood stove while another work in progress is displayed in a frame, beautiful even in its unfinished state. The artist, a mother of five, has created with yarn all her life and it shows.

“It all started with crocheting,” says Lindsey Rhoades, a member of White River Valley Electric Cooperative. “My mom first taught me when I was 5 years old. She was always working on something.”

Lindsey grew up creating textile art and dreamed of one day selling her own pieces. In 2019, she opened her online shop — Home Ties — and began offering a variety of homespun items. “At first, I mostly crocheted mug rugs, cup cozies and potholders. Then I discovered macrame and the weaving movement on Instagram,” she says. “I looked up all the free tutorials and YouTube videos I could find.”

After a year of practice, Lindsey gained the confidence to sell some of her pieces. “It helped I already knew how to sew and crochet,” Lindsey explains. “I was familiar with the movements and working with yarn, and since I was already such a craft nerd I had a lot of the supplies too.”

Crafting with fiber can involve fabric, cord or thread woven into pieces of art. “This style of fiber art is a revival of the macrame craze from the ’60s and ’70s,” she says. “The type of knots and fringe that often hangs down is very bohemian and I like to include a rustic vibe with mine.”

Lindsey often designs her own patterns. She’ll start with an idea and sketch out the details to guide her. “If I don’t have a plan, there’s a lot of pulling thread out and trying again,” she says. “Other times, if it’s not turning out the way I’d originally hoped, I continue trying to work with it and sometimes it’s turned out even better.”

The largest tapestry she’s made measured 32-by-42-inches. She began by putting up a clothing rack and tied the knots to form the design, all the while carrying her youngest daughter in a wrap. “It took me nine hours to finish,” she says.

Lindsey makes a wide assortment of items, including earrings, keychains, doilies, table runners, pillowcases, round weaving on hoop rings and macrame tapestries. She enjoys incorporating unique items into her art, such as pieces of wood or copper pipe. “Once I even took an old pair of my husband’s jeans, cut it into strips and used a denim ribbon to weave it all together,” she says.

Whether she’s braiding a loop of yarn, sewing beads together or crocheting an intricate stitch, Lindsey uses materials on all of her creations. “I use all natural fibers, such as velvet, 100% cotton cord, 100% merino wool and silk ribbon,” she says. She also has a jar where she keeps her scrap pieces. “I don’t want anything to go to waste. When I trim the ends off a tapestry, I’ll save those to tie into another piece as fringe.”

Lindsey works with various sizes of looms, several of which she’s made herself. “You begin by stringing it all up to the width you want. Then you weave the specialty fibers in and out and use a comb to press down the rows and make them even.” She usually cuts the finished piece off the loom to display, but occasionally she leaves pieces woven into a picture frame as part of the design.

One of her favorite creations is a framed picture she calls “Painted Desert,” with its vibrant, woven hues of blue, green and yellow. “I made it right before we left California and moved back to Missouri. I wanted to remember the amazing view we had of the desert,” she says.

Lindsey sells primarily on Etsy but will also participate in local markets. “The markets are so fun because you get to meet the people and see their reactions,” she says. “When a person decides to purchase one of my pieces, it makes me feel really special to know they saw what I was seeing when I was making it.”

As with most art, it can be hard to appreciate the work and time that goes into projects like Lindsey’s. “I like to post videos online that are set in real time, and not sped up, so people can see the process as it really is.”

For those interested in learning the craft, there are many free tutorials online, patterns and in-depth courses accessible. “There’s even beginner kits available that will include a yarn pack, a loom and fibers — everything you need to get started,” Lindsey says.

Probably the hardest part, she says, is just sticking to the fundamentals. “Work like this, though, really sets handmade things apart from those mass-produced, machine-pieced items you might find at Hobby Lobby. It’s unique, even with its imperfections.”

Lindsey looks forward to sharing her love for sewing, crocheting and weaving with her five daughters. In fact, she’s already begun. “I can already see little seeds of inspiration in my girls,” she says. “I’ll often work at the table alongside them while they’re doing their homeschool and I’ll show them my current projects.”

The girls range in age from 9 years old to 4 months old. “My oldest is working on a mug rug and the rest of them are learning to crochet. They’re in the chain stage; there are crocheted chains all over the place,” she says.

In the midst of raising her family and working from home, Lindsey continues to dream of new pieces and ideas for art to create. “It’s so fun to experiment with different materials and play with different stitches. Once you get into it, it’s really addictive,” she says. “I love taking something small and plain and seeing what I can do to make it unique and stand out.”

You can contact Lindsey Rhoades at hometies.shop@gmail.com. View or purchase her work at www.instagram.com/home.ties or www.etsy.com/shop/HomeTiesShop.

Kaiser is a freelance writer from Hartville.