DiAnn Boehm sees the making of her clothing from the very beginning.

Boehm was one of several traditional craft makers showing off their skills at the Homestead National Monument Friday as part of Homestead Days festivities.

The process of making clothing and other cloth items for Boehm doesn’t start with yarn like most hand-sewn clothing.

She starts with her animals.

She watches the young animals grow, and Friday she used the fur of two very soft animals of her own to spin yarn.

The animal fur came from alpacas and angora rabbits - two of the animals on Boehm’s acreage in Ames.

“I have the animals, I watch them grow. I make gorgeous, wearable items, and even when they’ve passed, I have something nice from them to keep me warm,” she said.

Boehm has been spinning yarn since 2000 when she met up with another spinner at the Nebraska State Fair who took her “under her wing” and taught her the “ropes” of yarn spinning.

With her angora rabbits, she’s able to help them while they help her.

She gathers their fur when they begin shedding. It’s pain-free and frees the rabbits from hot and itchy fur.

“I comb the fluffy fibers off,” she said.

She takes out a plastic bag filled with angora rabbit fur. It’s so soft too the touch that it’s barely noticeable.

Her interest for spinning began in a University of Nebraska at Omaha textiles class.

Though the spinning was done in Lincoln and only being witnessed by Boehm through the magic of distance learning, her gaped mouth showed how interested she was in learning such an amazing skill.

Of course, she said, she didn’t think of learning the trade when she was in school with free time.

It wasn’t until she had three busy children that she picked up spinning.

But her children helped her discover a more child-proof spinning wheel, made of PVC pipe and a wheelchair wheel.

She knows it’s not the traditional wooden wheel, but feels that it still has the pioneer touch to it.

“Pioneers were very resourceful. I’m sure if they had PVC pipe back then, they would have made it,” she said.

Now she travels to different festivals where she shows her skill and sells her clothing.

She will teach a beginning spinning class at Southeast Community College-Beatrice, also.

Boehm’s daughter, Salem, accompanied her to the Homestead Monument on Friday, also.

Salem, 14, has been spinning since she was seven.

She loves seeing her clothing develop from the beginning, also.

“You take the wool from the sheep, make your own yarn and then I design the clothing,” she said.

She likes taking designs she has seen as making them her own. She changes what she doesn’t like about a piece of clothing or she makes the clothing more practical for her own needs.

She loves to make things for her friends, especially hair scrunchies.

Last Christmas, Salem’s friends all received unique gifts—hats and scarves they wouldn’t be able to buy anywhere.

“It’s something you can’t find in a big box store,” Salem said.

Now Salem has her own clothing group, For Girls By Girls, where she and a few friends make clothing and then sell the items at craft shows.

“I’m saving up for a car for college,” she said.

She wants to be a meteorologist, with a little fashion designing on the side.