This page lists notices received by the Guild and seem to be of interest to our members and others interested in fibre arts and craft.
The Victoria Handweavers and Spinners Guild was formed on March 7, 1934, when a group of ten women met at the Women’s Institute to teach weaving: (https://vhwsg.ca/about/guild-history/)
In celebration of the Guild’s 90th anniversary, we are holding a Garment Challenge, Fashion Show and Tea on May 5, 2024, starting at 1:00 pm. The event will be held at the Victoria Scottish Community Centre at 1803 Admirals Road. Parking is limited so car-pooling or public transportation is encouraged. Please approach from the Gorge Road area for easy access to the parking lot.
While waiting for the Fashion Show to begin, you’ll be enjoying a light and lovely tea and visiting with members and guests.
We have 24 entries for the Fashion Show which will be reviewed by independent judges on April 10, 2024. We have many awards and prizes which the judges will determine.
We are still looking for a volunteer (or two) to help the models with dressing and stying the garments so they look their best. An excellent opportunity to have a good look at the workmanship of the entries. Please send an email to show@vhwsg.ca if you are interested. We’d love to have your help!
Registration to attend the Fashion Show on May 5 is now closed.
Watch here for the People’s Choice voting which will be available in the week AFTER the Show.
See also the FAQ page
It is almost August, that means it is almost Fibrations (Sunday, August 20)! We are still looking for more volunteers, so if you are interested please send an email to fibrations@vhwsg.ca or fill out the form on the guild website. The form is located under the tab Forms, Call for Volunteers (all events).
This year’s Spin-In is called Spin-Out (because we will be spinning outside – rain or shine).
Where: Esquimalt Gorge Park, 1070 Tillicum Rd
Location in the park: red picnic tables area (see photo) close to the main public parking lot and beside the Esquimalt Gorge Pavilion
When: Sunday July 30th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
No registration, and no registration fee. Just show up!
We will gather together in the beautiful Esquimalt Gorge Park. Bring your own brown-bag lunch, chair, hat, jacket/sweater and spinning wheel and enjoy some time spinning outside and visiting with other spinners.
NOTES
* Lunch, water, tea and coffee and snacks will not be provided
* Vendors will not be present
* No kitchen facilities available
There’s lots of parking close by. You can sit in the sun or shade and washrooms are available for our use. If you need a break from spinning take a stroll in the Japanese Gardens.
Door Prizes from:
Chaotic Fibres
Honeysuckle Fibre Studio
Jill’s Fibres
Knotty by Nature
Anonymous
Bobbie Williams
Small Bird Workshop
Questions? Contact: Cora Timothy – see membership list for email address.
It was a fine day at the Highland Games this year (2023)! Click the link to see some great photos in a new window. 2023HighlandGamesreport
We have expanded the page of links you will find under the main menu item Fibre Links. There are now four submenus to help you find the type of information you are looking for. The list of commercial source of yarn/fibre, list of local farmers producing fibre and links to area fibre arts related guilds and organizations are now separated and directly available from the main menu.
Newly added is a page of the best of web links providing how-to information for weavers, spinners, felters and other fibre artists. We welcome your suggestions for links to be added to this (or any other) page on our website.
April 29th ( not May 20th) to June 3rd , 2023*
Five Saturday afternoons – 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm
*A sixth class on June 10th may be added if necessary.
Number of Students: Maximum 6, minimum 3
Workshop registration form available on the Victoria Handweavers’ and Spinners’ Guild web site: vhwsg.ca
Cost: $350.00 guild members ($390.00 for non-guild members)
payable by e-transfer – See registration form.
Description:
Learn the vocabulary and basic skills of making your own fabric on a 4-shaft loom. The instructor will lead you through making a warp and dressing a loom as well as weaving techniques and planning a project. No experience or equipment is required, but if you have your own loom, please let the instructor examine it before class. An extra materials fee (approx. $25.00) may be required if you wish to have special yarn for your final project.
Tuesday, November 15, Doors open 6:30 at St.Luke’s Church Hall, Cedar Hill X Road.
November’s speaker will be Jane Hutchins. Her topic is “How to Make an Heirloom”. She will discuss how to preserve textile collections usually concern handling, display, storage, and vermin. A significant part of the textile’s longevity is determined by the maker’s selection of materials and techniques, and in this session Jane Hutchins, VHWSG member and Textile Conservator, will outline some of the choices that determine a textile’s longevity, as well as reviewing handling suggestions for textiles of any age.
This meeting will not be recorded, so please choose to attend either in person or on Zoom on November 15th, 2022. A Zoom link will be sent to all members by email shortly before the meeting.
Tuesday, October 18, Doors open 6:30 at St.Luke’s Church Hall, Cedar Hill X Road.
October’s program will be an evening of skill sharing from our talented members. Mary Jean Betts will demonstrate boro-stitching. Gail Maier will have a fibre identification table, so if you would like help determining the fibre content of something, bring it along. Brenda Nicolson will demonstrate tablet weaving. Christine Purse will show us how to spin designer yarns. Laura Proctor and the natural dye group are going to have a natural dyeing display table. Jill Yelland-DeMooy will be spinning using the Spinneret designed and created by her mother Pat Yelland. We will also have Steve Ashton, who has built a 20-harness loom. He will be bringing his circular sock-knitting machine as well.
In addition, we will have the show and tell table, a stash-busting table and a table of donated books and magazines looking for new homes. So come out and learn new skills, and go home with new ideas and perhaps some fibre, yarns or books!
Date: Oct 29th, Nov 5th and 12th from 1:30pm to 4:30 pm
Location: Near Fairgrounds on the Saanich Peninsula
Cost: $150 for Guild members and $190 for non-Guild members.
Wheels will be available for the workshop, if you are a Guild member you can also rent a wheel after the workshop is over.
This workshop will get you started in the world of spinning, you’ll learn some of the terms used for wheels and fibre as well as several spinning techniques and plying. Fibre will be provided for an additional $25.
Week 1: Learn to names of all the parts on the spinning wheel, and different wheel set-ups (double drive, Scotch tension, Irish tension), learn to spin Short Forward Draft
Week 2: What does it mean to spin Worsted or Woolen? What’s the difference between batts, roving and top? What if you want to buy a fleece? Learn to spin Short Backward Draft
Week 3: What should you look for or look out for when purchasing a wheel? Learn to ply.
To register visit the Workshops page on the guild website.
The Guild Drop-In Evening is an opportunity to get together with guild members for an informal evening of conversation and sharing. Bring your spinning wheel, knitting or other project to work on. Bring questions if you’d like help from other members. Bring Show & Tell to share. Non-members are welcome.
Our new meeting place is at St Luke’s Hall, 3821 Cedar Hill Cross Road (www.bc.anglican.ca/greater-victoria/st-luke).
Masks required for now, and the venue has plenty of space for distancing. We cannot use the kitchen for now, so if you wish some tea/coffee, you must bring you own ready to drink.
Zoom drop-Ins are now held on the SECOND Tuesday of the month. Zoom invitations will be sent to all guild members by email shortly before the date.
LAST DAY to vote in the May 2022 Spring Challenge until midnight tonight.
May 2022 Show and Tell items submitted for display are now online for your viewing pleasure!
2022 May Show & Tell and “Spring” Challenge
We are now ready to accept online submissions for the Show& Tell display and for the SPRING Challenge. When your photos are ready, head to May 22 Show & Tell page to submit them for the online show. Note: Only entries submitted online will be considered for the People’s Choice Challenge – which has a prize of a one year membership in the Guild!
The May Guild Meeting (7 – 9 pm, Tuesday, May 17) at St. Luke’s Church Hall (3821 Cedar Hill Cross Road) is a Show ‘n’ Tell and Challenge of fibre creations made during the Pandemic. We are going to attempt a hybrid meeting in that we will have a concurrent zoom link set up for at least announcements. We don’t know how well a hybrid set-up will work for the Show ‘n’ Tell, but we’ll give it a try! Photos of all entries will be displayed in the following week on the website, with voting enabled for People’s Choice for the Challenge.
- Any fibre creation made during the Pandemic can be entered into the Show ‘n’ Tell.
- Any fibre creation made during the Pandemic with the theme of Spring can be entered into the Challenge.
- There are no limits on numbers of entries, and the same items can be entered into both the Challenge and the Show ‘n’ Tell.
- Each entry (even those shown in person during the live event) should have a photograph taken of it. Instructions for submitting the photos are available on the website: https://vhwsg.ca/activities/show-tell/show-tell-may-2022/
- There will be voting through the website for People’s Choice for the Challenge. Voting will occur during the week of May 25– 31. The prize will be a one-year membership in the guild.
This class is now full.
We will be having a Basket weaving workshop making a Zarzo flower basket (gathering basket), with Johanne Byskov. There will be room for 8 participants.
Cost: will be approx $35/person
Date: June 25th
Location: Central Saanich (address will be sent to registered participants)
Register but please do not send payment until June 1.
Catherine Knutsson of The Small Bird Workshop will do a virtual presentation on the topic of Adventures in Canadian Wool: Breeds, Infrastructure, and Sustainability.
From working with mills to the secret of how she ships loads of fleece across the country, this presentation will highlight the sheep, the shepherds, and the challenges of running a small business that has a long-term goal of providing 100% Canadian wool and fibre products.
Guild members will receive an invitation to the Zoom meeting by email in advance of the meeting. Visitors wishing to join the meeting can request an invitation from programs@vhwsg.ca
September 18 – October 23, 2022 Five Sunday afternoons (not the 9th which is Thanksgiving) – 1:00 pm to 5:00pm
Maximum Number of Students: 6
Cost: Members $320.00 Non-members $360.00
Workshop registration form and payment information is available on the Victoria Handweavers’ and Spinners’ Guild web site: vhwsg.ca
This class will introduce students to various weave structures. Any one of these could be an in-depth class of its own, but here you will get a taste of different structures, looms, and fibres. This will be a ‘round robin’ class: each student will receive a warp and details for threading your loom at home before coming to class. The looms will be taken to (and left at) the studio for the duration of the class so students will be able to work on each one. Students, please indicate which structure you wish to put on your loom.
1. M’s and O’s
2. Bronson Lace
3. Swedish Lace
4. Summer & Winter
5. Crackle
6. Overshot
Workshop looms are available from the Guild to guild members if you don’t have your own to bring to class.
Date: March 12th, 19th and 26th from 1:30pm to 4:30 pm
Location: Near Fairgrounds on the Saanich Peninsula
Cost: $150 for Guild members and $190 for non-Guild members
This workshop will get you started in the world of spinning, you’ll learn some of the terms used for wheels and fibre as well as several spinning techniques and plying. Fibre will be provided for an additional $25.
Week 1: Learn to names of all the parts on the spinning wheel, and different wheel set-ups (double drive, Scotch tension, Irish tension), learn to spin Short Forward Draft
Week 2: What does it mean to spin Worsted or Woolen? What’s the difference between batts, roving and top? What if you want to buy a fleece? Learn to spin Short Backward Draft
Week 3: What should you look for or look out for when purchasing a wheel? Learn to ply.
Wheels will be available for the workshop, if you are a Guild member you can also rent a wheel after the workshop is over.
This month’s drop-in will include presentations by two members who received Guild scholarships for courses they completed in the Fall. The drop-in will start at the usual time of 7:00 p.m., with the presentations starting at approximately 7:10. We ask members to please be on time for this special event.
Jill Yelland-DeMooy completed an in-person weaving course for beginners with Brenda Nicholson. She will discuss what she learned from the course, provide examples of what she has woven since taking the course and how she hopes to use her new skills.
Bronwyn Zozula completed an online course on overshot departures with Janet Dawson. She describes the course as “an in depth look at the numerous ways one can alter an overshot threading to masquerade as different weave structures”. She feels that it made her much more aware of what is possible with a four-shaft loom.
There will be plenty of time after the presentations for asking questions or discussing your work.
As an alternate to the judged ‘Sheep to Shawl’, this year we challenge you to a Farm to Fashion project. Our focus is to connect people with local fibre sources, to show and share the progress and end result of a project, have fun with a challenge, and possibly record the results for posterity.
Ideally, entries should have been created within the last year/ since Fibrations (Sept 25th, 2021) The challenge is open to crafts people on Vancouver & Gulf Islands, Lower Mainland, Sunshine Coast – no need to be members of the VHWSG.
We hope to connect crafts people and local fibre sources (What is in your fibre shed?), to encourage you to push your boundaries from what you know and to promote community building and teamwork.
Full details: Farm to Fashion Challenge
Digital Threads (online Canadian Fibre related Magazine) has published a Canada-wide holiday shopping guide that can be downloaded from their website (after joining their mailing list or taking out a free membership)
These links will remain available on the Fibre Links page on our website.
Indigenous Pueblo Textiles
Louie Garcia is a Tiwa/Piro Pueblo fiber artist from Socorro del Sur Pueblo just south of what is today the city of El Paso in Texas, USA.
Traditionally, spinning and weaving among the early Pueblos was the realm of men. Louie, like many Pueblo weavers, began learning the foundation of the Pueblo weaving tradition at an early age from his grandfather, and he actively works to revive ancient and long forgotten techniques.
He cultivates heirloom Pueblo cotton for use in some of his work and uses various natural dyes including indigo and varieties of native plant dyes such as juniper root bark and tannin/iron dyes.
Louie has always been fascinated by the beauty and simplicity embodied in the many textiles that make up traditional Pueblo clothing. He explains that all aspects of Pueblo life are reflected in the clothing as the textiles themselves serve as milestone markers in one’s life on this Earth as well as in the spirit world, after we leave this world.
Guild members have received a link to Thursday’s presentation by email. If you have not received your link (first check your spam folder and then) contact zoom@vhwsg.ca
Visit the Saanich Fair Challenge 2021 to see all the wonderful creations!
Voting has closed – the ribbons have been placed. Hope to see everyone at the Zoom meeting tonight to talk with the creators of all of these wonderful items. We will also see all of the Shawls created by the Virtual Sheep to Shawl teams over the summer.
Here is the link to the show: vhwsg.ca/activities/show-tell/2021-saanich-fair-challenge/
September 12th to October 25th, 2021
Five Sunday afternoons (not the 19th or Thanksgiving) – 1:00 pm to 5:00pm
Number of Students: One space open
Learn the vocabulary and basic skills of making your own fabric on a 4-shaft loom. The instructor will lead you through making a warp and dressing a loom as well as weaving techniques and planning a project. No experience or equipment is required, but if you have your own loom, please let the instructor examine it before class. An extra materials fee (approx. $20.00) may be required if you wish to have special yarn for your final project.
Cost: $350.00
Fill out the Guild Workshop registration form,
AND
Send a cheque payable to The Victoria Handweavers’ & Spinners’ Guild
Mail to:
Victoria Handweavers’ and Spinners’ Guild, University Heights R.P.O. Box 31125, Victoria, BC V8N 6J3
The Virtual Sheep to Shawl has nine teams registered as of June 26 with only 4 days until registration closes on July 1.
To follow some of the activity on Facebook, there is a private group called Virtual Sheep to Shawl 2021 (VHWSG) that I believe you can view even if you are not a member of the group.
Teams are from Victoria, Gabriola Island, Courtenay and Vancouver. Team names are as follows:
The Organizers
Covid Baaa Damned
Shuttle Fish
Tagalong Singles
Sheep Shifters (Courtenay)
Mighty Mycelium Magic Makers (Gabriola)
It’s a Wrap
Wednesday Creative
Vancouver Shawl-ympics (Vancouver
We missed the Saanich Fair Sheep to Shawl demonstration last year, so the idea of a virtual Sheep to Shawl was born! This event is supported by the VHWSG but is open to all spinners on Vancouver Island, Lower Mainland and the Islands in between.
A “Sheep to Shawl” is an event at which spinners begin with a newly shorn and skirted fleece and end up with a finished shawl! Loads of fun to work with a team – together or apart. A Visual Record of the project is a new part of the fun. Registration is limited to 10 teams. Registration opens April 1, ends July 1st. Shawls must be received by the judges by August 31st, 2021. This will be a summer project, beginning in May when the sheep are shorn to be completed by August 31.
Two spots left!
We have now posted some of the prizes that will be awarded. Read on for more details and required registration.
We will be offering this Zoom workshop by Linda Hartshorn on Jan 29, Feb 5 & 6th 2022.
The workshop runs 2 1/2 days. On the full days lectures are 3 times a day, usually 10 am, 1 pm and 4 pm our time. The 4 pm is a review and sharing of the student’s work. The last day is one lecture at 10 am usually.
Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Cost: Cost for non-Guild members will be $200 (does not include supplies). Currently there are 6 spaces open.
Material List:
Floor or table loom, 8 or more shafts, in good working order. Loom will be pre-warped according to instructions. Two boat shuttles with bobbins, scissors, weft yarn in a variety of colors and weights, tape measure. Pen, pencil and paper for notetaking and drafting exercises. Computer, internet access and Zoom capability.
Those interested in this workshop can fill out the Workshop Registration form and email a pdf me workshops@vhwsg.ca.
The Silk Weaving Studio and Sanjo Silk offer two workshops by Kim McKenna – online via Zoom.
June 12, 2021 10am – 4:30pm — Exploring the Colour Wheel with Wool/Silk Blends with Kim McKenna Registration Deadline May 26
June 19, 2021 10am – 4:30pm — Blending Nature Dyed Silks with Natural Coloured Wools Registration Deadline May 29
Detailed information available: www.silkweavingstudio.com/
Saturday, April 24 is upon us … and our first Virtual Spin-In. Hope to see you there!!! 
Come one, come all! With no way to get together in person, we are trying a virtual Spin-In using our Zoom account. Everyone is welcome (non-members contact spinin@vhwsg.ca for an invitation to the zoom meeting)! Small groups will be organized and “visiting” others groups encouraged. More details….