Dyeing wool with Tansy
While I do love the natural whites, greys, and browns of undyed fibre, sometimes I like to add some colour. In this piece, Amy Crook gives us an overview of how to dye fibre with a common roadside weed –…
Category challenges
Summer 2024 Skill Building Challenges
Continuing on from our Spring 2024 challenges of sewing and working with raw fibre, we now have some new challenges for Summer. We’d love you to take on these challenges to learn new skills and become more comfortable sourcing your…
Using the whole fleece – a wet-felted vest from local Icelandic fleece
No part of a sheep’s fleece needs to be waste. The dirty bits when it’s first sheared make great garden mulch. Then you can comb or card the best parts for spinning into yarn. And then, if you are Bobbie,…
Treasure from a thrifted sweater
We already have a lot of textiles on Vancouver Island, most imported from outside our region. While we don’t currently have commercial fabric production here, our closets and thrift shops are a great source of materials just waiting for creative…
A tale of a project
Are you seeking inspiration for the VIF Winter challenge of re-purposing a textile? Read this story below by Bobbie Williams, weaver and spinner and all-round champion of wool, to see how she took cotton scraps and old clothing and made…
Dreaming of flowers and colour in the middle of winter: Dye Plants 2024 Winter Challenge
Are you participating in the Vancouver Island Fibreshed’s skill building challenges this quarter? Below, see Christi York’s musings on working with flowers for natural dyes. Maybe you’ll get some new inspiration? by Christi York Even if you have zero experience…
2024 Skill-Building Challenges
Let’s celebrate the incredible diversity of creativity and production talent in our region and explore new ways to work with what we have here! For 2024, we are proposing a year-long skill-learning challenge with a different focus each season. Will…