Thanks for stopping by to visit.  It is our delight to show you the Marge Rohrer Collection of flings. Capes, scarves, hats and gad-a-bout pursettes.  As new fabrics and designs are created we will add pictures and details.   Let us share our “fiber joys and woes” with you and urge you to use our blog, “Sassy Fibers, Seductive Colors and Savy Hands”, to share your own “fiber tales” with us. We look forward to exploring the fiber highways and byways of the Fiber Kingdom together.  Fiber enthusiasts you are welcome, too. We truly thank those who do not create but are willing to enhance the creativity, efficiency and morale of all fiberists with their appreciation, knowledge and support of our passion.  Please join in often.

It was a happy day for all of Highlands when two young women published The Laurel, a 4-color, glossy monthly magazine advertising local shops and writing articles about community events. The Laurel has been an avid supporter of the Arts and the artists living here. They are “the angels on my shoulders” listening to ideas, providing technical support and boosting my morale. It is their faith and support that makes this website a reality today.

Appeared in The Mountain Laurel July 2002

MARGE ROHRER

Marge Rohrer and husband David have been designing, weaving and producing clothing for over twenty years. Their wonderful, wearable cotton fabric and simple styles are in demand for those who prefer classical styles and elegant fabric. Nowadays, many women are looking for a truly unique garment that can’t be found in every store, in every city. And many of them want an ensemble that goes from casual day to dressy evenings with only a quick change of accessories.

Marge’s garments are known for surrounding the wearer in a cloud of softness, moving gracefully as they sit, walk or stand. Her clothing is also known for an eclectic mixture of textures and colors that define the woman who owns them. Rohrer’s designs are essential to those who need a traveling wardrobe that will not wrinkle and always look fresh. They are also perfect for those who desire garments that can easily be machine washed and dried and still look like new.  If you’re longing for the experience of wearing handwoven garments created by skilled designers and craftsmen that reflect your feelings of value, quality and style in each unique wearable, then Marge’s handwoven styles are for you.

Marge’s husband, David, is the chief weaver, and you can find him in the studio weaving or surrounded by cones and cones of yarn as he winds bobbins for use in this shuttle or spool of yarns for the next fabric. Marge designs the classical styles in the Marge Rohrer Collection of Handwoven Wearables for Today’s Woman. Her favorite garments are those with classic lines created from textured fabrics that are elegant to the eye and provide great comfort and ease to the body.

An article in the 2007 Laurel and also printed in the Wearable Art Show Brochure for the Bascom-Louise Gallery. Written by Donna Rhodes

From fig leaf to fiber art, clothing and ornaments have served countless functions throughout fashion history. Early man and woman needed protection from the elements, insects, wild animals, and occasionally each other. Modesty also played an important role in clothing’s humble beginnings.

As body coverings evolved, so did their meaning.  Certain styles began to indicate social and marital status, religious practice, occupation, dating availability, and much more. Mom was right. You can tell a lot about a person just by looking at what he or she wears.

Animal skins, fur, grasses, and other soft fibrous materials were draped, twined, woven, and laced into humankind’s first fashions. Bones, scales, teeth, shells, stones, and metals were fastened together for necklaces, bracelets, and anklets. These were most likely advertisements of heroism, or announcements of wealth and rank, or purely a decoration. Contemporary jewelry has its roots in these adornments.

While we no longer don a cowrie shell codpiece, at least in the western world, we do still utilize the same or similar materials primitive folk used to make clothing and jewelry. Linen comes from the ancient flax plant, dyes come from the same berries and walnuts used in millennia past. Cotton and jute and wool and leather have been around for centuries. We have come a long way in the past 30,000 years since the first sewing needle made its debut, but in many regards, we are still connected by a common thread to ancestral stitchers of cloth and hide.

Over time the cotton gin, mechanized looms, cheap foreign labor, etc., have helped clothing become more available. Instead of a couple of good summer and winter outfits we now have closets full of things to wear, mostly all mass-produced and machine-made. Who doesn’t have jeans? It’s become jean-etic. 

But there comes a time when we want to wear something unique, something cut from a different cloth… a handwoven cloth perhaps. That’s when we look to the artist, a creative soul who can stitch and knot and sew or bead a wondrous wearable. And in donning his or her masterpiece, we become a walking work of art ourselves.

It is for those seekers of unique clothing and body adornments that the Fine Art Center/Bascom-Louise Gallery in Highlands, North Carolina has put together a marvelous Art-to-Wear Exhibit. It is a delightful collection of flowing shapes, striking forms, rich colors, and delicious textures. One of the wonderful things about fine art wearables is that they look almost as good on your wall as they do on you.

Work from a variety of fiber, bead and metal artists will be on display. Ramsey Hall, a metalsmith and member of the Southern Highlands Craft Guild became enamored of metal at the University of New Mexico. Manipulating metals, blending abstractions with the natural shapes and forms of the desert southwest sent her work soaring and cemented her style.

A fellow Southern Highlands Craft Guild member, Melinda Smith, spent 25 years as an engineer. She applied her love of the fine and intricate to the lapidary arts. She now mixes and matches the tiniest of seed beads with jasper, agate, and other richly polished stones to create elegant but durable jewelry for both formal and casual wear.

Another S.H.C.G. sister is Marge Rohrer. Marge prescribes the yarn, set, and pattern for the loom. Her husband, Dave, weaves the yardage and passes it back to Marge. Then she goes to work designing, stitching, and embellishing the garment, often a ruana (a kind of loose-fitting stole-jacket), a cape, or a cocoon (a sleeved shoulder cape).  While deceptively simple, her pieces are divine to the eye and ravishing to the touch. She accessorizes with tiny bags and pouches made from the same hand-woven cloth to create the perfect ensemble.

All these and many more hand crafted wearables will be on display August 25th to September 13th, Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. The show is a textural treat and a cadenza of color. The history of the wearable echoes eloquently in every fiber, thread, and bead. It’s a feast for the eye and body. The opening is 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Saturday, August 25th. For more information, call The Bascom-Louise Gallery at (828) 526-4949.