Sherry Studebaker

Sherry Studebaker enjoys working with her hands and making something useful. When she was growing up, she learned to sew, took ceramics classes, and caned and wove chair seats. She’s owned an antique store, refinished furniture and taken stained glass lessons.

“But my chosen craft is weaving. I love to weave,” the Indiana Artisan says. “It is both relaxing and rewarding. When my hobby outgrew my home, and I decided to buy more looms, we built a beautiful weaving studio onto the house that overlooks a lake. That is my happy place!”

Sherry is proud to carry on Indiana’s long and rich weaving heritage by producing artistic and functional rugs, table runners, place mats, and wall hangings. She’s also proud to be carrying on a family tradition handed down by her grandfather.

“As long as I can remember, my grandfather was a weaver,” Sherry says. “I always was fascinated with the process of him picking the colors of warp (the vertical threads) and weft (the horizontal material), as well as the act of weaving itself. His rugs, displayed on special hangers in his weaving shop, really inspired me.”

When her grandfather could no longer weave, he offered his loom to Sherry. “I joyfully said yes, and he taught me the process of dressing the loom (setting it up) and the techniques of weaving,” she says.

She has been weaving and developing her fine craft since 1980.

“I pay great attention to the details of each piece to provide quality and pleasing aesthetics,” she says. “I keep the selvedge edges straight and uniform in size and shape. The weft texture and pattern provides visual impact to the woven article.”

Sherry considers both color and texture to create something visually appealing and also fully functional.