Bunad and Bandweaving: A Nordic Folk Art Journey
Fri, Apr 10
|Nordia House
From sewing her first Norwegian folk costume in her college apartment to researching historic textiles abroad, Caroline Feyling traces a path shaped by curiosity, tradition, and countless hours at the loom.
Time & Location
Apr 10, 2026, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Nordia House, 8800 SW Oleson Rd, Portland, OR 97223, USA
About
Weaver and folk art instructor Caroline Feyling recounts her journey to becoming a professional craftsperson. From sewing her first Norwegian folk costume in her college apartment to researching historic textiles abroad, Feyling traces a path shaped by curiosity, tradition, and countless hours at the loom. Drawing on years of weaving, museum research, and hard-won lessons from failed experiments, she explores how regional techniques, history, and lived experience intertwine within a vibrant Nordic folk art tradition. Feyling will present slides of her work and research, along with examples of beautiful Scandinavian textiles and bands to examine up close in person. Select items of her own work will also be available for purchase.
Spring workshop offerings from Caroline Feyling at Nordic Northwest:
Weekend Intensive: Nordic Pickup Band Weaving on a Band Heddle (April 11&12)
Norwegian Tablet Weaving Telemark Style (May 2)
About the Speaker
Caroline Feyling is a Norwegian and American textile artist based in Corvallis, Oregon. Born in Upstate New York to a Norwegian father and an American mother, Feyling speaks fluent Norwegian, and remembers hints of Nordic craft everywhere in her childhood home. Her first craft memories are of the colorwork sweaters her grandmother knit while visiting from Norway and the Norwegian bunad she would play dress up in. Feyling spent a gap year in Norway attending a folkehøgskole (folk high school) to study classical piano, but fell in love with and fully immersed herself in Norwegian knitting culture. She returned with 13 pairs of socks she had knitted and a foreshadowing of a new life passion.
Feyling holds a BFA in Fiber and Material Studies from School of The Art Institute of Chicago, 2020. She studied Scandinavian weaving at Vävstuga Weaving School in Shelburne, MA, and was a 2023-25 Resident Artisan at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN. She has taught at North House Folk School; Tarweed Folk School, Corvallis, OR; Vesterheim Folk School, Decorah, IA; and American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis, MN. Feyling’s current work explores Scandinavian weaving techniques in contemporary interior design contexts for her business Elderberry Textiles Studio. You can follow her work on Instagram @carolinefeyling.
Cost
General Admission: $15
Member Admission: $10
Arts for All (Requires valid Oregon Trail EBT Card): $5
(Please note: All sales are final)
