Rabbit Goody Consulting:
Weaving History for Over 20 Years

Services for Designers

Rabbit Goody's Thistle Hill has been offering special services to interior designers for more than 15 years.  Authentic historic textiles can transform your interiors and give your projects the look and feel of another time.  We offer consultations on how to create appropriate bed hangings, window treatments, custom carpet, trims, and upholstery.  Lush, livable, and totally authentic "soft furnishings" give your designs distinction.  Whether you seek guidance about a particular item, a special room, or an entire household, we can help.  We offer on-site visits, remote consultations, and special services to the trade.

 

Services for Home Owners

Do you love the look of historic homes?  Authentic historic textiles can transform your interiors and give your home the look and feel of another time.  From bed hangings to window treatments, custom carpet to upholstery, Rabbit Goody's Thistle Hill Weavers will guide you in designing lush, livable, and totally authentic "soft furnishings" for your home.  Whether you seek guidance about a particular item, a special room, or an entire household, we can help.  We offer on-site visits and remote consultations.

Services for Museums & Historic Sites

Rabbit Goody has extensive experience working as a consultant to museums.  Services offered include dating and identifying textiles in specific collections; making recommendations about exhibits, storage, and conservation; helping museum staff to develop appropriate and workable furnishing plans that include historically accurate soft furnishings, from carpet to loose covers to window treatments; and developing plans for textile rotation.  Ms. Goody has worked with many living history sites to coordinate the use of historically accurate reproductions with original items in the museum's collections. 

Consultant

Rabbit Goody is a nationally recognized textile historian who has served as a consultant to major museums, private collections, and the film industry.  Her reproduction fabrics appear in many movies, including Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Master and Commander, Amistad, The Titanic, Cinderella Man, Polar Express, The Prestige, Transformers, and the new Indiana Jones movie. 

She owns, directs, and is the designer for Thistle Hill Weavers, a custom mill that has been producing historically accurate reproduction fabrics, trim, and carpet for 20 years.  She advises designers, private home owners, museum profesionals, and site managers about window treatments, bed hangings, carpet, upholstery, and other soft furnishings appropriate for period installations. She lectures widely and teaches classes on historic textiles.  She directs the Textile History Forum, a national conference devoted to new research and developments in textile history.  Her publications include Woven History: Techology and Innovation in Long Island Coverlets; articles for Early American Life, Old House Interiors, The Clarion, Heritage, and other publications; and the forthcoming Woven Textiles 1640-1850: A Reference Guide for Identifying and Dating Everyday Fabrics.

Fees

Rabbit Goody is available to travel to your site.  Depending on the services desired, there is an hourly, a per diem, or a project fee.  Consultations are also available on a more limited basis by phone and email.

Contact

To inquire about a consultation, call Thistle Hill toll free at 866-384-2729, or contact us by email at rgoody@hughes.net.

You can see the work of Rabbit Goody's Thistle Hill Weavers at many historic sites around the country, including George Washington's Mount Vernon; Thomas Jefferson's Monticello; The Henry Ford Museum; Harper's Ferry National Park, Harper's Ferry West Virginia; Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, Akron, Ohio; Rock Hall, Lawrence, NY; The Farmers' Museum, Cooperstown, NY; Martin Van Buren's home in Kinderhook, NY; and Valley Forge National Historic Park, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Recent Lectures

• "Textiles in Taverns," Eastfield Village, Nassau, NY, August 2007.
• Two-Day Workshop in Venetian Style Rag Carpet Weaving, Sauder Village, Archbold, Ohio, March 2007.
• "What to Do with Your Bed, from Blankets to Bed Hangings," Greater Philadelphia Historic Home Show, January 2007.
• "Coverlets Uncovered," Alfred University, Alfred, NY, September 2006.
• "From Floatwork to Figured: Woven Bed Coverings of the 19th Century," Greene, NY, April 2006.
• "Woven Bed Coverings: Understanding Historic Block Weaves," New York Guild of Handweavers, New York, NY , October 2005.
• "Homespun to High Style: Early American Furnishings and Fabrics," Traditional Building Exhibition and Conference," Philadelphia, PA, 2005.

Professional Experience:

• Founder and Director of the Textile History Forum, a conference of textile researchers, scholars, and museum professionals that publishes papers in the Textile History Forum Proceedings.
• Director of the Summer Coverlet Institute, a three-day seminar program for curators and collectors
• Owner, Designer, and Master Weaver of Thistle Hill Weavers, a custom weaving mill providing historic reproductions to the museum field, the film industry, designer and home owners, and custom woven textiles to designers.
• Consultant to museums and the film industry on textile history, the history of technology, and interior furnishing fabrics.

Recent Publications

• "Setting the Table in Early America," Old House Interiors, Summer 2007.
• "The Humble and Elegant Blanket," Early American Life, December 2006.
• "Bed Hangings for Your Historic Home," Old House Interiors, Spring 2006.
• "Create Period Curtains," Colonial Reproductions and Designs, Fall 2005.
• "Historic Window Treatments," Old House Interiors, Summer 2005.
• "Right Underfoot: Venetian and Ingrain Carpets," Early American Life, 2002.
• Technology and Innovation in Long Island Coverlets, SPLIA, Cold Spring Harbor, NY