images courtesy PRINT magazine, all rights reserved, used with permission
We were charmed by a recent article in PRINT magazine, a conversation between Charlotte Beach and knitter Julie Steiner that featured miniature versions of some very recognizable sweaters, including a tiny representation of the Original Westerley, or as many know it, the Dude’s sweater in “The Big Lebowski.” She even knit a purple V-neck T-shirt to go under it!
images courtesy PRINT magazine, all rights reserved, used with permission
PRINT has graciously allowed us to share some of the photos that showcase Ms. Steiner’s art. We also want to share some of her wise words.
On miniatures:
I recently taught a class on miniatures in art history, and it’s so much fun to see that artists through all periods of history and all around the world, from so many disparate cultures, have had similar practices of taking objects common in their world and shrinking them to small scale… Miniatures change our physical experience of ourselves, and that is irresistible.
images courtesy PRINT magazine, all rights reserved, used with permission
On handcrafting:
Handcrafted objects hold human connections. They’re so warm and rich in comparison to manufactured products. They have soul. As an example, I love handmade pottery, and most of my mugs are handmade, many of them by people I know personally…they made something useful to me, something incorporated into my daily life for years afterward, and it makes my life feel stitched into a larger community, in both literal and figurative ways.
“Handcrafted items hold human connections.”
Isn’t that the truth? We feel like we should hang that on the wall here at the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store! Thank you to PRINT magazine for generously allowing us to share these images and quotes. You can read more, and see many more sweaters, including examples worn by Princess Diana and Charlie Brown, at the article. You can also read more about her technique and materials for making these miniature marvels.
Our Apparel Weight Fabrics continue on special this month, with additional clearance specials throughout the store. We carry a wide variety of apparel weight fabrics, including worsted wool and woolen flannel shirting. The width varies from 54-60 inches wide. See them by weight at: Light Weight Apparel Fabric and Medium Weight Apparel Fabric. Please come see us to enjoy these fantastic promotions. This offer is good through end of business day, Jan. 31, 2025.
Community Crafting
Join us for a free selvage rug crochet demo. Learn the craft of a lifetime, share your work and knowledge, or just enjoy crafting in community at our store.
25% off all apparel-weight fabric January 2-31, 2025, at the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store in Portland, Oregon. Limited to stock on hand; selection varies. Cannot be combined with other offers or applied to previous purchases.
Our Apparel Weight Fabrics are all on special this month, with additional clearance specials throughout the store. We carry a wide variety of apparel weight fabrics, including worsted wool and woolen flannel shirting. The width varies from 54-60 inches wide. See them by weight at: Light Weight Apparel Fabric and Medium Weight Apparel Fabric. Please come see us to enjoy these fantastic promotions.
This offer is good through end of business day, Jan. 31, 2025.
Community Crafting
Join us for a free selvage rug crochet demo. Learn the craft of a lifetime, share your work and knowledge, or just enjoy crafting in community at our store.
25% off all apparel-weight fabric January 2-31, 2025, at the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store in Portland, Oregon. Limited to stock on hand; selection varies. Cannot be combined with other offers or applied to previous purchases.
Our Craft Tools are all 30% off this month. Are you a knitter? A Needle felter? A fan of crewel or embroidery? The tools of your trade are 30% off through 12/31/24.
And don’t forget the BOGO! Winter crafting takes some special materials, like webbing, ribbon, twill tape and ricrac (or rickrack as my grandmother called it). All these crafting helpers are buy one, get one free this month, 12/24.
SPECIAL PERKS
Are you a Pendleton Perks member? We have double perks and more for you. Visit your local Pendleton store or outlet for information on special savings and rewards.
30% off all craft tools December 1-31, 2024, at the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store in Portland, Oregon. Limited to stock on hand; selection varies. Cannot be combined with other offers or applied to previous purchases. Some promotions valid Dec. 12-16, 2024, in Pendleton retail and outlet stores; one per customer. Not valid online or affiliate stores, including McKenna’s Pendleton and the Jackson Hole affiliate store. Does not apply to previous purchases.
25% off all knitting and crochet supplies November 1-30, 2024 at the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store in Portland, Oregon. Limited to stock on hand; selection varies. Cannot be combined with other offers or applied to previous purchases.
October is a wonderful time to craft in preparation for the holidays. So we are offering a Fiber Arts sale until the end of the month, with buy one, get one free on:
Headers
Premium strips
Scrap strips
Selvage
Worms
Roving
Free item of equal or lesser value
Community Crafting
This session of Community Crafting is a fun one: No-Waste-Material Projects. Put those Fiber Arts materials to work on a selection of crafts that make the most of mill ends. This is a free event, and all ability levels are welcome. Come to craft, chat, share, and learn on Saturday, October 26 from 10am to noon.
Six Days of Special Outlet Savings!
For those of you who live near a Pendleton Outlet store, now is a fantastic time to shop. From October 16 through October 21, our Pendleton Outlet Stores have special saving of 50% off selected goods, with new doorbusters every day. Find an outlet store near you here: https://www.pendleton-usa.com/stores/
Semi-Annual Fiber Arts Sale: Buy 1, get 1 free (of equal or lesser value); applies to headers, premium strips, scrap strips, selvage, worms and roving. Valid October 1-31, 2024 at the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store in Portland, Oregon, and the Pendleton Heritage Mill Store in Salem, Oregon. Limited to stock on hand; selection varies. Cannot be combined with other offers or applied to previous purchases.
The Woolen Mill Store is not a Pendleton Outlet store for apparel, blankets, or accessories. Up to 50% off select sale items in Pendleton Outlet Stores only, October 16-21, 2024. Selection varies by store. Not valid in affiliate stores, including McKenna’s Pendleton and the Jackson Hole affiliate store.
Join us throughout the month of September for the Pendleton Fabric Sale! 25% all fabrics. Come see us to see the full array of Pendleton fabrics, and enjoyl
Out of the area?
Browse our beautiful fabrics here, PENDLETON FABRICS , and then give us a call.
Salem area: Pendleton Heritage Mill Store (at the Willamette Heritage Center)
1313 Mill Street SE, Suite 110, Salem, OR 97301
503-990-7544
Open Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
25% off all fabric valid September 1-30, 2024 at Pendleton Woolen Mill Store in Portland, Oregon, and the Pendleton Heritage Mill Store in Salem, Oregon. Limited to stock on hand; selection varies. Cannot be combined with other offers or applied to previous purchases.
It’s a wonderful time to shop our sales, because August 26th through Labor Day, September 3rd, brings sale-on-sale! an extra 50% off the last sale price means extra savings for you.
Other sales continue through end of August
Melton and Pendleton Eco-Wise Wool are 30% off through the end of this month.
Salem area: Pendleton Heritage Mill Store (at the Willamette Heritage Center)
1313 Mill Street SE, Suite 110, Salem, OR 97301
503-990-7544
Open Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
All Sales limited to stock on hand. Selection varies.Extra 50% off all sale items August 26 – September 3, 2024. Valid in all Pendleton outlet stores. Not valid in affiliate stores, including McKenna’s Pendleton and the Jackson Hole affiliate store. Discount taken before taxes. May not be combined with other offers or used on previous purchases.30% off all Eco-Wise wool & Melton fabric through August 31, 2024. Buy one get one free on all threads and buttons valid through August 31, 2024. Free item must be of equal or lesser value.
Rali Burleson, director of the Arizona Make It With Wool (MIWW) contest and good friend of the Pendleton brand, wrote to us recently to share an outfit she created around a vintage Gambler shirt.
Photo by Barbara Trainor.
Her letter read:
I am enclosing photos of my vintage Pendleton Gambler shirt. My shirt may be older than the 1940s. The shirt is grey with bronze-colored topstitching and closes with bronze-colored pearlized buttons. It is a size small (14½). It is in pristine condition with little to no wear. The inside is immaculate! I made a beautiful bronze-colored skirt, using Pendleton wool, to wear with the shirt.
I developed a unique skirt closure using a vintage money clip with a bronze ram’s head on the front. I wear a silk Pendleton scarf as an accessory.
Photo by Barbara Trainor.
We love the outfit she’s created, especially since it uses Pendleton wool fabric.
What About That Skirt?
Rali says this about the beautiful skirt she made to go with the Gambler shirt.
I used a vintage (1989) McCall’s pattern (4408) for my skirt.
Photo courtesy Rali Burleson
The skirt has a waistband with an elasticized back…
Photo by Barbara Trainor.
…side seam pockets with a side pocket opening, and front pleats.
Photo courtesy Rali Burleson
The skirt fabric is a very lightweight wool flannel by Pendleton. The creative closure is a vintage money clip depicting a ram’s head.
Photo courtesy Rali Burleson
It is a perfect compliment to my wool skirt and Make It With Wool.
Photo by Barbara Trainor.
I am proud to say, “I made it myself with wool.”
Dress well. Dress in WOOL!
The skirt is a beauty, but we can’t forget the shirt.
After some investigation, we discovered that her Gambler shirt is actually a men’s shirt in its smallest neck size; 14 ½ . It was made in women’s sizes in 1936, but in Umatilla Wool, not gabardine.
The Western Gambler was introduced somewhere between 1934 – 1939. The white label gives us a clue as to the age, as the label changed from blue/gold to white around 1940ish, and remained white until the final offering in Fall 1962, so Rali’s shirt was made sometime between 1940 and 1962.
Rali is wearing a shirt that could be 80+ years old!
Photo by Barbara Trainor.
Looking good with jeans, Rali!
This shirt was made in a fine worsted wool gabardine. Here is more copy from 1939, specifically about the fine Pendleton wool fabric.
PENDLETON GABARDINES – “Pendleton Gabardine Shirts are made from an exclusive Pendleton fabric – an 8-ounce mill shrunk worsted gabardine. The luxurious fabric is available in the distinctive models – the Sportsman, the Western Gambler, and the Sports Shirt Model, providing a gabardine garment for all sports, spectator, or leisure wear.”
Rali’s shirt shows how well that fabric endures – the magic of wool.
Western Wonders
Rali’s Western look is perfect for this month, when our minds turn to western style in general. August is when we gear up for the Pendleton Round-Up, in Pendleton, Oregon. Thousands of rodeo-goers visit our store, shop our Western (and non-Western) apparel, and take mill tours. These wonderful photos of Rali have us ready to hit the road, see the rodeo, and Let’er Buck!
Photo by Barbara Trainor.
If she’s inspired you, visit us to see our range of exquisite wool fabrics; from jacquards to gabardines, whatever strikes your fancy. And a HUGE thank you to Barbara Trainor Photography for her creative work with Rali (and for traveling to such an amazing location). We love these photos!
Read more about the Make It With Wool competition here: MIWW
August brings a sale on our two types of solid-colored wool fabric, Melton and Pendleton Eco-Wise Wool. Both are 100% wool, and the width varies from 54-56 inches wide. See them here: Solid Wool Fabrics
We are also having a button sale, and the thread you need to sew on those buttons. All buttons, all threads are BOGO this month!
Community Crafting
Flower fabric dyeing is the process of transferring color directly from a flower or plant to a piece of cloth. It’s a simple and fun natural dye technique and everyone is welcome to come learn more. All ability levels are welcome!
Salem area: Pendleton Heritage Mill Store (at the Willamette Heritage Center)
1313 Mill Street SE, Suite 110, Salem, OR 97301
503-990-7544
Open Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
All Sales limited to stock on hand.
30% off all Eco-Wise wool & Melton fabric through August 31, 2024. Valid in Pendleton outlet stores. Not valid in affiliate stores, including McKenna’s Pendleton and the Jackson Hole affiliate store. Discount taken before taxes. May not be combined with other offers or used on previous purchases.
Buy one get one free on all threads and buttons valid through August 31, 2024. Free item must be of equal or lesser value. Valid online and in retail and outlet stores. Not valid in affiliate stores, including McKenna’s Pendleton and the Jackson Hole affiliate store. Selection varies. Discount taken before taxes. May not be combined with other offers or used on previous purchases.
