Reporter Patti Zarling makes rugs like they did during the Great Depression during visit to Minnesota's North House Folk School

Many people were at the pool or beach when outdoor temperatures reached into the 90s in mid-July. I was in a room without air conditioning learning to transform old T-shirts and fabric into rugs.

And I loved it.

My grandmother never had idle hands. You could find her baking, crocheting, cleaning the farmhouse where my grandparents lived or working in the garden day after day.

She baked from scratch, collected coins in jars for safekeeping, and never threw out a bag, rubber band or even little twistie used to close bread bags.

My mom sewed clothes, knitted accessories, baked and canned.

I grew up with a love for those things. My friend Lila says I’d be useful after a zombie apocalypse (let’s hope it never comes to that!) as I can knit, garden, can foods and build a fire.

Perhaps my posts about these hobbies led Facebook’s algorithms to find me and send an ad for the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota.

I clicked the link late last year. The campus looked charming — little wood buildings painted in primary colors on the north shore of Lake Superior.

Images of students baking bread, weaving on large looms and carving canoes drew me in. I ordered a class catalog and eagerly paged through it like I did the Sears Christmas catalogs back in the day.

I found two rug-making classes that fit my summer schedule and signed up for a July 13 Swedish toothbrush rug-making class and a July 14 braided rug-making class.

I was drawn to reusing materials such as old sheets and T-shirts I no longer wear into something useful and beautiful — just as my grandmother would have done. I could feel her smiling down at me.

North House was founded in 1997 by a handful of folks passionate about traditional craft and cooperative learning, according to the school’s website. Its first courses included Inuit kayak building, Scandinavian bowl carving and canoe paddle-making.

They had no teachers, no funding and no campus.

Then, two old U.S. Forest Service buildings became available, and North House settled in and began building a campus. Those two charming buildings — the Red Building and Blue Building, are still in use today, in addition to a few more class areas.

The school hosts more than 350 classes and 3,000 students each year. Volunteers and students do much of the work to maintain the campus.

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The drive to Grand Marais is about six-and-a-half hours from my home, through the farmland of central Wisconsin to the pines of the north and into Minnesota.

I drove through Duluth, Minnesota, for the first time and up the coast on Highway 6, which hugs Lake Superior. I arrived at my lodging in the dark, and quickly noticed a “Beware of Moose” sign along the driveway. Sure sign I’m way up nort’ and only an hour’s drive from Canada!

The next day, I took a ride on the Hjordis, a Schooner sailboat the school owns and operates. It was a beautiful, sunny day to be on the water and learn about the area’s maritime history. A great start to my grand adventure!

On Friday, I spent the day in Grand Marais’ downtown.

I had no idea how charming this town is! Wow. Full of tourists in the middle of July, but folks were very friendly. I had to stop at the “Best Donut in the World” shop, where I had a very delicious jelly-filled donut ($2).

I then walked to the Drury Street Bookshop. It’s a cute cottage building with bright purple shutters. The shop was filled with customers while I was there. I’m always happy to see an independent bookstore doing well!

After wandering the downtown, I drove north of town and stopped at a few state parks to view amazing waterfalls.

My first class started at 9 a.m. Saturday. Our instructor, Melba, is a maker who lives in Minneapolis and teaches at North House a few times a year.

Swedish toothbrush rugs are made using a tool that’s shaped like a toothbrush, with a large eye for carrying your cut fabric through the weaving process. The tool we received for class was an actual toothbrush with the head cut off and formed into a slight “V” shape. I now ordered a wood needle on Etsy with a pointy end as it will work better for the sewing process.

The process of weaving the cloth takes more time than I thought. And the fabric I bought was too similar in color when working with two strips at the same time. As a knitter, I thought this would be a piece of cake, but it’s a new set of stitches to learn and get comfortable with. But some day I envision this string of stitches will be an oval rug for my bathroom. Perfect for my 1929 home!

Melba limits her class size to eight, so she has time to work individually with students. Women from mostly Minnesota, and one other from Wisconsin, made up the friendly class. Three of us also signed up for Melba’s braided rug class set for Sunday.

Melba teaches a way to braid rugs by weaving in a fourth strand, so you don’t have to sew a long strip of braids together to form the rug. It’s a pretty simple stitch, so I caught on much more quickly compared to the toothbrush technique.

For this rug, I brought old T-shirts in an off-white and dusty red, blue and green. We cut our shirts into strip between 1-2 inches thick and began to braid. The hard part is learning to connect your strips in a way that doesn’t create a big knot.

I think this rug will be used outside my tent while camping. I think to make one for home, I might look for fleece fabric on sale so I can buy larger quantities to have consistent colors throughout the rug.

On my drive home, I stopped at Betty’s Pies for “lunch.” The Two Harbors, Minnesota, diner was hustling at 11:30 a.m., so I felt I needed to check it out.

An immediate seat was available at the counter. I sat down and ordered coffee and the Great Lakes crunch pie. It’s made with a variety of seasonal berries and was the perfect snack for a long car ride.

I can’t wait to go back to North School for more classes. The tiny campus feels like a community of like-minded people who appreciate crafts and traditions of time gone by. It’s not an arts or crafts school; students learn traditional skills.

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There’s so much to explore and learn just in the tiny orbit of the Midwest! I’m so glad I discovered North School, and am eager to see what my next adventure holds.

Learn more about North House Folk School at northhouse.org or call 888-387-9762.

"Patti Goes ..." is a regular series by reporter Patti Zarling in which she goes and tries out unique experiences, usually in Manitowoc County. Where should she go next? Contact her at [email protected] or call 920-606-2575. Follow her on X @PGPattiZarling and on Instagram @PGPatti.

This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Wisconsin reporter visits North House Folk School for rug-making class