CAROL COLBURN
140 West Kent Road Duluth, MN 55812 Phone 218.491.0851 carol.ann.colburn@gmail.com carolcolburn.net
TEACHING CLASSES INSPIRED BY FOLK CLOTHING (2001 – Present) I have developed all classes listed based on historical research. In class students use my original hand-drafted patterns and are introduced to garment making techniques in a spectrum from beginning to advanced levels.
John C. Campbell Folk School, Brassville, NC
Work Shirts for All
Weave to Sew a Work Shirt/Work Shirts for All, co-instructor with Kala Exworthy, (Two-week sequence of weaving and sewing garments, 2025)
North House Folk School, Grand Marais, MN
Sew Your Own: Scandinavian Work Shirts
Weave to Sew: Handwoven Wool Vest co-instructor with Erin Endsley
Nature’s Insulator: Sew Your Own Wool Blanket Shirt
Wool Blanket Coat
Patternmaking from Original Garments
History to Handcraft: Highlight on Fiber Arts in the Lighthouse Museum
Keeping You in Stitches: Practical Handsewing
Vesterheim Folk Art School, Decorah, IA
Sewing a Busserull, Norwegian Heritage Shirt
Handwovens to Wear – Scandinavian Inspiration
Vesaas Farm Studio and Mjonøy Handcraft and Cultural Center, Vinje, Telemark, Norway
Refashioning Vadmel: Weaving and Design in Norway Workshop profiled in Swedish Vav Magazine (November/December 2006) and American Handwoven Magazine (February, 2010). (Two-week courses in handweaving and custom garment making, 2002 – 2011)
Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network, Bainbridge Island, WA
Busserull – Norwegian Work Shirt
Weaving Guild Teaching –
Minnesota Weaver’s Guild at the Textile Center in Minneapolis (Handwoven Scandinavian Work Shirt)
Duluth Fiber Guild (Handwoven clothing classes including vests, jackets, work shirts, pants)
Range Fiber Arts Guild (Norwegian Spilesaum handsewing for handwoven vests and accessories)
PUBLICATIONS authored by Carol Colburn related to Scandinavian Folk Clothing
“At Work: A Study of Norwegian Immigrants and Their Work Clothing” with Laurann Gilbertson in Making History: A Century of Norwegian-American Studies. Edited by Anna M. PetersonThe Norwegian-American Historical Association, Northfield, Minnesota, 2025.
Review by Carol and Mae Colburn of book - Carrie Hertz, editor. Dressing with Purpose: Belonging and Resistance in Scandinavia. In Norwegian-American Studies. Volume 42 The Norwegian-American Historical Association, Northfield, Minnesota, 2024
Taking a Play to Norway: The Costume Designer’s Story online publication in Norwegian Textile Letter Volume 24 Number 1 February 2018 http://norwegiantextileletter.com/article/taking-a-play-to-norway/
The Busserull (Norwegian Work Shirt) Tradition and The Busserull Tradition Continues online publication in Norwegian Textile Letter Volume 22, Number 1, March, 2016 http://norwegiantextileletter.com/article/the-busserull-norwegian-work-shirt-tradition/
http://norwegiantextileletter.com/article/the-busserull-tradition-continues-opportunities-to-make-your-own/
“Busserull (Norwegian Work Shirt)” and “Norwegian Sweater” in Annette Lynch and Mitchell D. Strauss, Editors. Ethnic Dress in the United States: A Cultural Encyclopedia. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland, 2015
“Norway” with Laurann Gilbertson in Jill Condra, Editor. Encyclopedia of National Dress: Traditional Clothing Around the World (2 volumes) ABC-CLIO Santa Barbara, California, Denver, Colorado, Oxford, England, 2013
“At Work: A Study of Norwegian Immigrants and Their Work Clothing” with Laurann Gilbertson in Norwegian-American Studies Volume 36. The Norwegian-American Historical Association, Northfield, Minnesota, 2011.
“Snapshot: Norwegian Folk Dress in the United States” in Volume 3 Western Europe in the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion. (8 volumes) Oxford: Berg Fashion Library. 2010
“Norwegian Immigrant Textiles in the North American Mosaic” published with Laurann Gilbertson in Locale trader – tråkling gjennom tekstil- og lokalhistorie, Norsk lokalhistorisk institutt, Oslo 2006
Handweaving in the Norwegian Tradition. With Laurann Gilbertson. Exhibition catalog and permanent guide to Vesterheim Collections. Decorah, Iowa: Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum 1997
“Norwegian Folk Dress in America” Chapter in Norwegian Folk Art: The Migration of a Tradition. Marion Nelson, Editor. Northfield, Minnesota: The Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1997
“’Well, I wondered when I saw you, what all these new clothes meant’: Interpreting the Dress of Norwegian-American Immigrants”, Chapter in Material Culture and People’s Art Among the Norwegians in America. Marion Nelson, Editor. Northfield, Minnesota: The Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1994.
PRESENTATIONS by Carol Colburn related to Scandinavian Folk Clothing
Collection Connections: Inside Handwoven Dresses. Online Vesterheim Folk Arts School webinar (1 hour) Link to view https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPgxLbo_G1A.
Norwegian Immigrant Textiles in the North American Mosaic. Gilbertson, Laurann and Carol Colburn, presented at the conference: Locale trader – tråkling gjennom tekstil- og lokalhistorie, Norsk lokalhistorisk institutt, Oslo.
Thread Sister: Anna Grostøl’s Legacy for Today’s Textile Artists Paper presented at Third Conference on Norwegian Woven Textiles, Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah, IA
Researching Work Clothing in Norwegian-American Photographic Archives Paper by Carol Colburn and Laurann Gilbertson, Norwegian American Historical Association, University of Bergen, Norway
Only by Hand: Garment Shaping Techniques Unique to Wool presented at Ars Textrina: Embellishment Nineteenth Annual Conference on Textile and Costume, Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah, IA,
Fish Heads and Rye Flour: Old Norwegian Recipes for Weaving Fine Cloth for Garments presented at Midwest Weaver’s Conference, Duluth, MN
Looking American: Textiles for a New Life: Cloth and Clothing presented with Laurann Gilbertson at Vandringer: Norwegians in the American Mosaic 1825-2000, a conference sponsored by the American-Scandinavian Foundation, Minnesota Historical Society, Nordmanns-Forbundet, and the Norwegian-American Historical Association, St. Paul, Minnesota
Personal Industry: Handweaving and the Fashionable Image Conference on Norwegian Woven Textiles, Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah, Iowa
Norwegian Folk Dress in America Symposium presentation in conjunction with the exhibition “Norwegian folk Art: The Migration of a Tradition: sponsored by the Folk Art Institute and the Museum of American Folk Art, City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, New York, September, 1995
Norwegian and Norwegian Immigrant Work Dress Presented with Laurann Gilbertson. Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum Staff Training, Decorah, IA
Worn with an Accent: Norwegian and Norwegian-American Clothing for Work, 1870-1920 Presented with Laurann Gilbertson. Costume Society of America Regional Symposium. St. Paul, MN
From the Point of View of the 1890s Client; Custom vs. Ready-Made Clothing Costume Society of American Regional Symposium, St. Paul, MN
Immigrant Handweaving in the Upper Midwest, Paper, Ars Textrina: Seventh Annual Conference on Textiles, University of Maryland, College Park
Domestic Textile Production in Early Minnesota Symposium Prairie Costume Society Edmonton, Alberta
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Exhibitions including Carol Colburn’s examples of handweaving and garment making.
· Busserull til blomsterhagen (Busserull for the flower garden) Carol Colburn and Kala Exworthy in ‘Past/Present/Future of Folk Art’. Vesterheim Museum, 2025
· Norwegian Work Shirt in Instructor Exhibition at Arrowmont School of Crafts, 2019
· Long White Vadmel Vest in Traditional Norwegian Weaving: American Reboot at Norway House, Minneapolis, 2017
· Open and Closed Vests in ‘Begin - Continue: North House Folk School 20th Anniversary Exhibit’, Grand Marais, 2017
· Three Norwegian Work Shirts in ‘Folk Arts and Traditional Artists: A Traditional Showcase’. Minnesota State Arts Board Exhibition, St. Paul, 2016
· Custom-Made Handwoven Practical Vests. Ripple River Gallery Aiken, MN 2015
Costume Designer for historical plays
· The Uprooting, Underground Theatre, sponsored by Nordic Center and St. Louis County Historical Society, Duluth, MN. Performances in Duluth MN 2014, 2015; Clifton TX 2016; Tysvaer, Norway 2017
· The Emigrant Play. An outdoor festival play within open air museum.
Hallingdall Museum, Norway. Performances 2002-2005
Clothing Artifact Reconstruction
· Valdres Dress Project Reconstructed Norwegian handwoven and handsewn dress for permanent exhibit at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum.
· The Contents of an Immigrant Trunk Reconstruction of 1860s Norwegian-American immigrant clothing (A touring exhibit of museum artifacts. Exhibit toured to Washington DC and to schools)
UNIVERSITY TEACHING – 30+ YEARS EXPERIENCE
University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Professor Emerita of Theatre/Costume Design
Costume Designer for Theatre, Dance, Musical Performance (50+ productions)
Courses: Costume History, Costume Design, Stage Costume Techniques, Theatre and its Literature, Production Techniques Studios: Pattern Development, Costume Crafts
University of Minnesota, Design, Housing and Apparel, Instructor,
Courses: Draping for Fashion Design, Flat Pattern Design, Textiles Laboratory
Oberlin College Theatre and Dance, Costume Studio Supervisor and Instructor/Costume Designer Costume Designs for Opera, Theatre, Dance (15+ productions);
Courses: Costume Design, Costume Techniques, Makeup Design
EDUCATION
PhD, University of Minnesota Graduate School, St. Paul, MN
Design Housing and Apparel; Museology
MA, University of Minnesota Graduate School, St. Paul, MN
Textiles and Clothing; Museology
BA, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
Speech and Theater
SKILLS AND INTERESTS
Teaching, Costume and clothing design, Patternmaking, Weaving, Clothing artifact reconstruction, Lectures and presentations, Historical research, Writing and publication.