Kudzu Basket Weaving w/ Carleigh Fairchild - Asheville, NC

Learn how to transform a nuisance into a source of beauty with a purpose! Discover the usefulness hidden in one of Appalachia’s most abundant wild plants—kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata). In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn how to transform this often misunderstood vine into something both functional and beautiful: a useful basket crafted with invasive materials by your own two hands.

Guided by experienced basketmaker and Earthskills instructor Carleigh Fairchild, participants will explore the full journey of wild weaving—from identifying and harvesting kudzu, to splitting, storing, and preparing the vines for weaving. You’ll learn foundational techniques for beginning, shaping, and finishing a basket, while gaining confidence in working with wild materials so you can take this craft out into the wilds with you! 

This class welcomes all skill levels. While some previous basketry experience is helpful, curiosity and willingness to learn are what matter most. As we weave, we’ll reflect on the ways basketmaking can mirror our own inner rhythms, inviting patience, creativity and connection.

You’ll head home with:

• Your own handmade kudzu basket
• The skills to continue weaving with wild vines
• A renewed sense of empowerment, creativity, and connection to the natural world
• A new perspective on what we consider / label foreign or invasive
  

More than a craft class, this is an invitation to reimagine your relationship with the land; to see beauty where others see problems, and to weave deeper connection into your daily life.

This class will be held indoors & outdoors on Saturday, April 11th, 2026, from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm in Asheville, NC.

All Firefly Gathering workshops are hosted in the greater Asheville area, sometimes at private venues. For that reason, the actual venue address will be included in your Welcome email, approximately one week before the workshop. Please note that classes are not actually held at Westgate Parkway.

The minimum age is 18, although 12 and ups are welcome if they are making a basket with an adult. Moderate hand strength is recommended for this workshop.

Stay in touch with our Facebook event: Kudzu Basket Weaving w/ Carleigh Fairchild

Carleigh (she/her) has a deep love for the Earth. She gardens, keeps bees, wild harvests, processes animals, tans hides, weaves baskets, and finds joy in time spent around the fire.

As the founder of Human Nature Connection LLC, Carleigh feels called to help others remember that we can live in a collaborative and respectful relationship with the Earth. She joined the survival show ALONE to share that message with a wider audience and to explore the depth of her own connection to the land. Over 86 days in the wilds of Patagonia, she relied on her skills, intuition, and connection with the Earth—emerging with a deeper understanding of what it means to truly belong to the natural world. 

Carleigh first learned survival and earth skills as a teenager through kids’ camps at the Tracker School, founded by Tom Brown Jr. Over the last 25 years, basket weaving has become one of the skills she’s most deeply developed. It is more than a craft—it’s a practice of connection, a quiet dialogue with the nervous system, and in a chaotic world, a path back to self and stillness.

Living and teaching in Western North Carolina, Carleigh offers both online and in-person classes, often working with families, friends, and community groups. She loves weaving not just materials, but relationships—believing that a basket is never just a basket, but a symbol of creating containers that connect us to ourselves, each other, and the Earth.

Carleigh is also a NIASZIIH bodywork healer and a teacher at WildernessFusion, with a practice based in Asheville, NC, where her work continues to weave together body, earth, and spirit.

You can learn more about her offerings at humannatureconnection.com.

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