Linen for the table
Towels, napkins and tablecloths woven from long Lithuanian flax.
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Linen and sashes woven by hand
Rūtelė is a weaving house in an old farmhouse by the river Neris, near Kernavė. We weave linen and folk sashes on wooden looms, embroider by hand and teach anyone who wants to learn.
- Every piece woven and finished by hand
- Flax and wool from Lithuanian farms
- Dyed with madder, walnut and indigo
A house full of cloth
The farmhouse was built in 1898 by a family of flax growers, and somebody has woven in it ever since. When Agnė Vaitkutė bought it in 2009 there was still a broken loom in the barn.
Today six looms stand in the old living room, a dye pot bubbles in the yard all summer and the attic is full of linen drying on poles.
We weave the way the women of this valley wove a hundred years ago, with the same patterns, and we are happy to show you how.
What we make
Woven sashes
Narrow folk sashes in the old patterns of the Neris valley.
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Embroidery
Towels and christening cloths stitched in red by hand.
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Classes
One day, a weekend or a week at the loom with a weaver beside you.
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How a sash is woven
01
The colours
We dye the wool in the yard: madder for red, walnut for brown, indigo for blue.
02
The pattern
Each sash follows a pattern counted thread by thread, often one a grandmother wove.
03
The weaving
A two-metre sash takes a weaver about two days at the band loom.
04
The fringe
The ends are knotted into a fringe and the sash is washed and pressed.
What visitors say
HBHannah BeckerWeekend class, from Berlin
I came for one day and left with a sash I wove myself and a promise to come back for the week. Agnė is the most patient teacher I have ever had.
RPRasa PetrauskienėWedding sashes, Vilnius
We ordered wedding sashes in my grandmother's pattern from a photograph. They arrived in a linen bag, perfect, and the whole family cried.
TATom and Lina GreerTablecloth, Dublin
The tablecloth is ten years old now and softer every summer. Nothing else in our house has lasted like it.
Before you come
Can I visit without booking a class?
Yes. The weaving house and its shop are open to visitors from Thursday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00, from May to October.
Do I need to know how to weave?
No. Most of our students have never touched a loom. You will finish your first sash on the first day.
Do you send linen abroad?
Yes, to most of Europe. Write to us with what you would like and we will tell you the price and the time it takes.
How do I get here from Vilnius?
It is forty minutes by car along the river. On fair days a bus leaves from the Cathedral Square at 11:00.
Come and weave with us
Classes run every weekend from May to October, with tea, bread from the oven and a sash to take home.