“Learn to make corn dollies,†the newspaper advertisement teased. Rita Peterman immediately telephoned her sister Gladys Brockway.
“We’re from Kansas," Peterman said to Brockway. "We need to learn this!â€
Three decades later the McPherson, Kansas, sisters are among a small but strong group of Wheat Weavers -- making ornaments, earrings, hairpieces, wallhangings and centerpieces out of spun and spliced threads of wheat and other grains.
This week, 40 wheat weavers from the United States as well as one each from Great Britain and Australia, traveled to Lincoln for the National Association of Wheat Weavers Convention -- a five-day affair of tours, classes and a public expo in which weavers sell their creations in hopes of funding their grain habit.
The expo also offers wheat weaving demonstrations, make-and-take sessions, instruction books and supplies -- an unabashed effort to propagate younger wheat weavers to carry on the tradition.
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Wheat weaving -- or straw art as it is also called -- dates back to the 1500s, when folks in Great Britain decorated the sheaves to celebrate the harvest. But wheat weavings have been found in other countries -- pretty much wherever grain is grown.
“The designs made from straw vary from country, but a similar belief in the fertility of the earth underlies them all,†according to a history published by the California Straw Arts Guild. “Woven from the last sheaf or best cut from the harvest, straw or/corn dollies was a decorative way to store a bundle of seed over the winter so that the Spirit of the Grain could survive and be plowed back into the soil in the springtime.â€
Straw plaiting, or braids, was thought to bring blessing and prosperity to the community and its land, the California Straw Arts Guild states.
While straw has long offered alternate uses to feed -- cover for thatched roofs, rope to tether, hats to protect from the sun and baskets to store items -- somewhere along the way, people began using wheat stalks for art.
By the 1800s, people all across Europe celebrated with harvest tokens: corn dollies.
For Americans, “corn†is a misnomer. In England, all grains and grasses like wheat, oats, barley, rye and rice are referred to “corn.â€
And as long as we are clarifying language, it is just as important to note that “dollies†are not dolls like children play with, but slang for idolatry -- in other words symbols fashioned from split, woven, braided and flattened grasses.
Wheat weaving virtually disappeared in the mid-1900s, with the introduction of machinery to do the harvesting work. A small group of weavers in England and Belarus managed to keep the art alive, attracting the attention of a group of Kansas women in the 1970s. The Kansas ladies traveled to Herefordshire, England, and attended a summer school led by pioneer corn dolly revivalist Lettice Sandford.
They brought wheat weaving back to the U.S., and in 1987 founded the National Association of Wheat Weavers.
The association’s objective is "to educate, develop and promote all forms of straw artistry.â€
And artistry it is.
Back when they started, most wheat weavers learned basic plaits (braiding and folding of wheat), forming heart, favors and other simple pieces.
“We took our stuff and sold it for 50 cents a piece,†recalled Brockway. “We were proud and how. Oh my gosh.â€
Then the association learned about Swiss wheat weaving, and doors to creativity burst open.
It’s a messy art. With the cutting, cleaning, soaking and slicing of wheat stems. While a wheat weaver doesn’t necessarily need a lot of space to do her craft, most tend to sprawl out, filling whatever space is available.
“If I have cleared the dining room table, people know company is coming,†Peterman quipped.
The tools of the trade are simple: a ruler, a scissors, thread, needle and a metal-toothed dog comb (spreuer) used for quilling and weaving.
One of the biggest challenges is finding quality wheat, said Dianne Gardner, organizer of the Lincoln convention. Most farmers don’t grow the tall wheat, she said.
“The taller the wheat, the longer the weaving straws,†she said.
Gardner grows her own wheat on a small plat of the family farm in Formosa, Kansas. It’s a tricky crop, sensitive to the weather conditions. Recent storms sent her and her husband to build makeshift tents to protect the wheat. The tents protected the crop from Mother Nature, but the barn cats made hay of the straw seeking shelter under the covers.
Weaving wheat needs to be cut at just the right time. Gardner hand cuts all of her wheat, then bundles it and hangs it to dry. Once dried, the wheat can be stored for future use.
As with yarn, thread and fabric, wheat can be dyed. Hundreds of years ago people used nature’s dyes. Today, most weavers use Rit, Gardner said.
Before weaving, the wheat must be soaked -- about 20 to 40 minutes -- in lukewarm water. If you soak it too long, it becomes rubbery, Gardner said. And if you use too hot of water, the wheat will lose its color and shine.
There are many techniques and styles. Most begins with plaiting. Wheat straws are gathered and bound by thread at one end, and then folded atop of each other in a variety of patterns.
Straw marquetry is when the wheat straw is split open lengthwise, smoothed and flattened into a paper-thin strip. Strips are glued side-by-side on a backing, so that they become a sort of straw sheet that can be cut into larger pieces and reassembled into geometric patterns (parquetry) or shapes to form flower petals, butterfly wings and other decorative pieces.
There is also Swiss straw work, straw embroidery, tied straw work and now quilling. Really, when it comes to wheat, the artistic possibilities are endless.
Weavers are limited only by their imaginations and their ingenuity, Gardner said.