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Register Online Now through November 28, 2025.
Join us for Soap Making Naturally with Ghislaine Chock.
Ghislaine has been making her own soaps for over 15 years using the cold process method.
This soap making class will be simple enough for you to want to make soap bars for yourself and your loved ones forever. In the saponification process of making soap, we will use quality oils from plants blended with an alkali (sodium hydroxide, which all soaps contain). No preservatives, no shelf extenders, no chemical detergents, no hardeners or synthetic lathering agents -- in other words, no harsh ingredients will be used. Your homemade soaps will not only benefit your skin but also the environment.
Skill Level: Beginner
There will be an additional supply fee of $45 payable to the instructor on the day of class. The supply fee includes all oils and a silicone soap mold.
What to Bring:
Hawaiʻi Handweavers' Hui members receive a discounted class fee. If you are interested in becoming a member please click HERE.
This class is open to adults, and minors ages 12-17 when accompanied by a parent or guardian. If you are interested in taking the class with your child, please register online and add your child as a guest. Those registering for a Hawaiʻi Handweavers’ Hui class may add one guest based on availability.
We require a minimum of three participants for each class. A full refund will be issued to those registered, if class is cancelled by Hawaiʻi Handweavers’ Hui. Refunds for class registration cancellation by participant will be issued in full only if the cancellation is made more than 14 days before the class begins.
MAP Downtown Art Center
Click for information on Parking at DAC
MAP to HHH Classroom
For more information contact: classes@hawaiihandweavers.org
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HHH TERMS OF USE_CANCELLATION POLICY 5_2023.pdf
Register Online Now through November 25, 2025.
Join us for Beginner Basket Weaving with Cynthia McCreedy
Learn to make a simple round basket! We will make one or two small baskets using natural and dyed round reed.
No weaving experience necessary. There is a $10 supply fee payable to the instructor at the beginning of the class. It includes the reed necessary for making one or two round baskets.
What to bring:
*The instructor will bring a few pairs to share during the class, if you do not own any.
Instructor Bio
Cynthia McCreedy began her journey as a weaver in 1973 when she took a basket making class. She soon went from basket weaving to loom weaving, attending weaving and fiber arts classes at Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She still loves to learn new weaving techniques in both basket and loom weaving, as she continues on her lifelong weaving journey.
How do I get to the Studio? From the Chinatown Gateway Garage, take the elevator to the 2nd floor and walk to the large double doors on the left. Enter the gallery and turn left; we are the last door on the left, past the kitchen. If you are parked elsewhere, walk up the steps to the DAC gift shop, go past it to find the elevator, and follow the instructions above to access the studio. There is a handicap ramp if you cannot walk up the stairs for the DAC building on the Nu'uanu entrance side. Walk towards the street lights, and you will see the ramp; you will need to walk through the courtyard to the elevator.
Register Online Now through November 29, 2025.
Join us for Open Studio Soap Making with Ghislaine Chock.
This open studio has been created to facilitate returning students who wish to make another batch of soap at the DAC studio without having to provide their own oils and equipment. The use of soap colorants, an additional component in soap making, will be presented. All supplies (oils and colorants) and equipment will be provided. Technical guidance from the instructor will be available to support your soap making production. The cleaning of used equipment will be expected.
Required Prerequisite: Soap Making Naturally class with Ghislaine Chock
There will be an additional supply fee of $30 payable to the instructor on the day of class. The supply fee includes all oils, lye, and purified water
Register Online Now through Nov 28 2025.
Join us for Paper Making with Jordan Paguirigan
Create your own handmade stationery, books, and paper art with handmade paper! Students will learn about the process of creating pulp, couching, and pulling sheets of fiber pulp made from recycled materials and cotton fiber.
All skill levels are welcome!
There will be an additional $10 supply fee due at the beginning of class to the instructor.
Supply fee includes:
Students are encouraged to bring scraps of paper
Instructor Bios:
Jordan is a multimedia artist specializing in fiber arts. His favorite mediums are ulana lau hala, paper making, weaving, and felting and often incorporates multiple techniques to create sculpture. Jordan has a passion for community and loves to use art as a way to connect with people, with nature, and to the world.
This class is open to adults from age 18.
Join us for Eco Dye Scarf II with Jena Hayama.
Bring Your Own flowers and Plants (BYOP) to create a unique botanical silk scarf.
Eco dyeing is a special technique that uses the natural pigments of plants to imprint color and images onto fabric. Local plants and flowers in season are wrapped into bundles and then steamed to print onto silk scarves.
Successful eco-printing using this method requires knowledge of (and access to) plants that are rich in tannins and natural dyes.
But what if you don’t have these plants?
In this class, we will use a “blanket” prepared with acid dye to create both positive and negative botanical prints on a silk scarf. This technique produces a scarf with a vivid background color and dramatic plant silhouettes. Plants may or may not have natural dye properties.
In other words, “ANY KINE” PLANT will work!
Bring your own flowers and leaves, especially ones with distinctive or unique silhouettes, and leave with your very own botanical printed silk scarf.
Experience with basic eco-dyeing technique is helpful, but not required.
There will be a $20 supply fee that includes one habotai silk scarf, dye supplies (iron mordant, prepared dye blanket, citric acid solution, plastic wrap, etc.) supplied and payable to the instructor on the day of class.
Jena Hayama (aka J. Tanuki) is a "dye explorer" who experiments with locally grown plants in Hawaiʻi to dye fibers and make clothes, among other things.
You can see her work on Instagram under the handle @tanukiheadquarters
Register Online Now through November 30, 2025.
Join us for Bag Charm with Elaine Imoto
Create your own elegant bag charm blending Italian craftsmanship with Japanese artistry. In this class, you’ll design a unique accessory featuring a blue Italian-style ceramic bead as the centerpiece, complemented by chirimen (Japanese crepe fabric) branches you’ll hand-sew for texture and color.
To personalize your creation, you’ll have the option to create another bag charm with a tiger cloisonné pendant (pictured below), symbolizing strength and courage, or choose from alternative accent charms for a custom touch.
Perfect for beginners to intermediate crafters who love combining cultures, textures, and symbolism into wearable art.
What you’ll learn:
• Basics of charm design and assembly
• Techniques for sewing and shaping chirimen fabric branches
• How to securely attach beads, findings, and charms for durability and balance
Instructor will provide:
A long time Honolulu Museum of Art (HOMA) volunteer, Elaine Imoto learned to weave baskets with bale straps from Professor Gaye Chan of University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Imoto took Chan’s reuse & recycle class in the December 2021 HOMA Artists of Hawaii Now program at which these weaving materials (the bales) were handed out.
This class is open to adults from age 18. Those registering for a Hawaiʻi Handweavers’ Hui class may add one guest based on availability.
Register Online Now through December 7, 2025.
Join us for Origami Wreath with Elaine Imoto
Join us for a creative and engaging class where you’ll learn how to make a beautiful origami wreath using colorful paper and simple folding techniques! In this hands-on session, you’ll discover how to fold modular origami units and assemble them into a stunning circular wreath — perfect for decorating your home, gifting, or celebrating special occasions.
No prior origami experience is required! All skill levels are welcome. Step-by-step guidance will be provided, and you’ll leave with your very own handmade paper wreath and the skills to create more at home.
What You’ll Learn:
Materials Provided:
All origami paper and supplies will be provided — just bring your creativity and enthusiasm!
Register Online Now through January 15, 2025.
Join us for Hand Brooms with Joan Namkoong.
Simple hand brooms using broom corn and tampico fiber are useful around the house, office and weaving loom for dusting off bits and pieces! Learn to tie a turkey wing broom and a hawk’s tail broom — a simple process that’s fun and quick. You’ll make at least 3 or 4 during our session. All supplies and equipment provided.
Joan Namkoong is a 30 year plus weaver who lives on the Big Island. She weaves and sells functional textiles like scarves, shawls, towels, rugs, runners and yardage for household use. Silk is her favorite thread followed by cotton. Plain weave is used most of the time on her 8- shaft Gilmore loom. She also uses a drawloom to weave complex images and patterns.
Join us for Hand Brooms II with Joan Namkoong.
Tie a broom and add some color and design to your handles using simple techniques and materials. Weave in color , change colors, add a hanging loop and make a potscrubber, all using broom corn (hurl).
All materials and tools provided. Prerequisite: Hand Brooms I.
Register Online Now through January 16, 2025.
Join us for Floor Loom Weaving with Joan Namkoong
A basic weaving class for people who want to learn to use a floor loom. You will learn the basics of setting up a floor loom: measuring a warp, dressing the loom (beaming the warp, threading heddles, sleying the reed, tying on) — all in an orderly manner so you can weave cloth. You’ll learn basic weave structures — plain weave, twill, basketweave. We’ll explore how to use different fibers, how to determine the sett of cloth and how handwoven cloth is made from start to finish. You will weave a sampler and a short piece that can be used as a runner or wall hanging. Students who have taken any of our Basic Weaving classes are welcome to take this class to practice their skills and work on a project to be discussed with the instructor.
By the end of class, weavers will have their one-of-a-kind project to take home.
Register Online Now through January 22, 2025.
Join us for Weaving Adventure with Ghislaine Chock.
Weaving fabric textiles is an ancient craft that still thrives today and is practiced by people of all ages. Whether it is a kitchen towel, a scarf, or a rug, handmade practical items embellish our lives.
In this adventure, you will learn how to set up a loom and weave 2 narrow towels. Looms, yarns, and tools will be provided. Just bring your curiosity and motivation.
You will select your pattern and your colorful yarns.
The schedule is somewhat flexible. Once a week for 3- 4 hours, every Thursday morning, for 6 weeks, the studio will be opened. You will receive personal attention, guidance until you finish your pieces.
You must be present for the first day of this adventure.
Recommended: Learning To Weave by Deborah Chandler. This book is available on Amazon or your local library.
The class is open to all skill levels and beginner friendly!
There will be an additional $40 supply fee payable to the instructor which includes: warp and weft.
Ghislaine has been passionate about weaving fabric for over 30 years. Her artworks have received several awards, including from the Hawaii State Art Museum. She also introduces dyeing with botanical dyes in some of her work. Since 2021, she has been teaching weaving, dyeing, and natural soap making for the Hawai'i Handweavers’ Hui at the Downtown Art Center
Click for informations on Parking at DAC
Watch Ikat Adventure Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VlfGAk94X0
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Downtown Art Center,
1041 Nuʻuanu Ave, Second Floor,
Honolulu, HI 96817
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Hawaiʻi Handweavers' Hui is a founding member of the Downtown Art Center. www.downtownarthi.org
Hawaiʻi Handweavers' Hui is supported in part by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.