According to owner Tory Fletcher, people are usually surprised when they walk into her Peterborough shop, Sawdust & Lint, for the first time.

The small space contains an array of handwoven items intermingled with handmade furniture and wooden items created by Fletcher’s husband, Wayne. 

“People come in and are astonished at what they see,” Tory said as she stuffed inserts into handwoven Alpaca pillowcases on Thursday. “They always say they will be back.”

The shop, which opened in June, occupies the corner space at 10 School St.-Suite B, behind Alice Blue and near the entrance to the Peterborough Community Theatre. There is a Swedish countermarche loom in the entry way, which Tory said is one of her smaller looms.

“I have three others are home which are larger,” she said. “I usually have a larger loom in here; I’m always working on something.” 

Sawdust & Lint is named for the workshop space Tory, a weaver, and Wayne, a master woodworker, have shared for many years. Tory initially learned to weave from Connie Gray of Peterborough, who used to teach at Sharon Arts.

“My husband makes the sawdust; I make the lint. When I registering the shop name, I looked it up and all that came up was ‘firestarters,’” she said with a laugh.

Wayne makes furniture, including tables and chairs, and smaller household items such as architectural rolling pins, while Tory creates handwoven items for the home. The shop also carries a selection of both contemporary and traditional  handwoven items by master hand-weavers. 

“Most have these weavers have been published in ‘Handwoven‘ magazine or have instructed hand-weaving,” Tory said. “I only display work that is better than mine.”

Weavers with work offered in the shop include Elisabeth Hill, Anita Thompson, Emily F. Gwynn, Kristen Dettoni, Bettie Zakon-Anderson of Hancock, Veronique Perrotte and Sybil Shiland. 

“They are all truly amazing,” Tory said.  “We focus on items for the home, like table runners, kitchen linens, placemats, blankets. We do not have a lot of wearable items, since we have Alice Blue right next door and they have really stunning wearables.” 

The Fletchers have never sold their handiworks through a retail outlet before, but after Tory retired from the corporate world, she had time to pursue her passion for handweaving. Wayne, a lifelong woodworker, has always done custom work and home-building through word of mouth with his company, Hidden Hill Woodworks. 

“It’s a small space. It is always a challenge -- should I display one of handwovens, or show off the exquisite grain of one of Wayne’s tabletops?” Tory said.

Tory noted that Wayne selects the trees he wants to work from individually from their own land or from the local area, cuts the trees down himself and cuts every board himself with his own sawmill. He then puts the wood through a three-step process of air-drying -- first outside, then in the couple’s restored 18th-century barn and finally inside Wayne’s workshop.

“All the wood is from Sharon or Peterborough, or near where we used to live in Massachusetts,” Tory explained. “Wayne is a self-taught woodworker; he does his own lathe work. I call him the wood whisperer.”

Tory gave an example of an Adirondack chair as an example of Wayne’s precision work.

“He worked on the proportions of this chair for years. It is comfortable for everyone, people of all shapes and sizes,” Tory said. 

Examples of Wayne’s work at Sawdust & Lint include an end table made of quarter sawn curly oak, with a finish that reflects light. Most of Wayne’s work, including his architectural rolling pins, are cherry and walnut. The rolling pins have a food-safe finish. 

“We had someone come in and buy one of the rolling pins for their granddaughter, who was graduating from Johnson & Wales as a pastry chef, and she loved it so much that when she came home to visit, she came into the shop to tell us how much she loves it,” Tory said. 

Tory says the first few months have been going well, and she is happy to be part of the “really wonderful” Depot Square community. She and Wayne hope to be a part of the Monadnock Arts tour next year. 

“This is a very new thing for us,” Tory said. “Wayne’s work especially is so special. We are just excited to get it out there and for people to see it.” 

For information about Sawdust & Lint, go to sawdustandlint.com or @sawdustandlint_nh on Instagram.