Stratford-upon-Avon Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers

The year is now almost done and this picture (emailed before Christmas by a triumphant Ruth McCartney) has a lovely end of year sense of achievement. Ruth completed these following Ruth Hainsworth's GBA session on sock knitting at our December meeting. Nice to see how things end up and these do look lovely.  During 2017 guild members ha ve added to their knowledge across all manner of things, especially dyeing - with food colours for fun play, using 'proper' acid dyes (taught by the talented Katie Weston) and also experimenting with natural dyes. We learned to spin cotton and share Sarah Wroot's love of this fibre, we got better at evaluating fleeces and carding wool). We have been out and about demonstrating and also lured visitors to our Open Day. Many members have acquired looms, wheels and dyed fibre as a result of this past year's activities. You may have received (or treated yourself or succumbed) to other weaving, spinning and dyeing supplies, tools...

We've done a lot, learned a lot, taught each other a lot and made new friends during 2017. Now we are near the end of the year and we can take things a little easier, celebrating this traditional time of year at our 9th December meeting. Ruth Hainsworth will be heading up a Getting Better At Sock Knitting session in the morning (which may help some of us finish off Christmas present knitting or encourage us to tackle heel knitting and second sock syndrome). Sue Byrne will be showing us some 'sock blanks', something new to many of us. These can be dyed to create unique sock yarns. Lunch will be a shared meal (please bring something for the buffet table). This is followed by activity led by Ann and Abby focusing on making decorations - including some for the guild tree, part of an annual display at Stratford United Reformed Church. For those participating in our Secret Santa Stash Swap there will also be something to unwrap or take away and put under your own tree. (Details...

On 18th November we will welcome Katie Weston, of Hilltop Cloud as leader of an all-day dyeing workshop. Ten guild members are keenly anticipating several intensive hours learning about acid dyeing of wool. From what Katie has told us already it will be a really exciting educational experience. All workshop attendees will have had an email from Chris P telling them how to prepare and what is in store. If you have any queries contact Chris please. For those not participating in Katie's workshop the guild meeting starts at 12.30 in the New Room . Ann and Sue W will be helping you get weaving, and available as guides if you are trying new things with weaving (whether using rigid heddle, inkle loom, peg loom or other). On the spinning front Jane Lucas will be helping new spinners to improve and is happy to answer spinning questions. For both activities please bring along what you have done so far if you need any help, advice or an appreciative audience. This is a great opportu...

Mary (seated) is pictured her at our 40th birthday celebrations with two other guild founder members (Chris Suddick, L and Ann Howells, R) Our Honorary President Mary Jeffery died on 20th September. She would have been 98 on 5th November. This guild would not have existed without Mary. In our October newsletter Ann Howells (Chair of the guild) reflected that she first met Mary when enrolled onto her Further Education class in spinning, weaving and dyeing at the College in Stratford. To relieve the pressure on class places this guild was started and membership soon grew to over 90. Mary was always there with ideas for speakers, plans for events, and above all her wide experience and knowledge which she was always ready to share. When the guild was 24 and Mary was 80 we made her Honorary President. She continued to play a leading part in the guild until the last few years when she became less active. We were delighted to see her at our 40th Birthday celebration in 2015. Sever...

The pictured yarns were all dyed in a crock pot using Wilton cake dyes - although we did need a much larger pot for big skeins.   At our meeting on Saturday October 21st at the Methodist Church (our usual venue but on this occasion in the Foyer/Lounge areas), we will be discovering some of the things that members learned at the Association summer school in August. Theresa will talk us through spinning plant fibres (including some unusual ones such as mint). Chris will share some of what she learned about how to prep a range of fleece (from down breeds, to primitives with dual haired fleeces).  In the morning a slightly more formal but definitely experimental session (following the Getting Better At ... format) will explore what you can do with a crock pot/slow cooker and some Wilton food dyes. If you have tried Kool-Aid and microwaves this is a step beyond, but nearly as easy. Think of this as kitchen-friendly low cost dyeing for newbies, with some surprises for the m...

Thank you to everyone who made this event so successful. Our first open day ran smoothly and had a friendly atmosphere with so much to see and do. Lots of compliments and just what we could have hoped for. We now have eight new members including Jayne Dryden of Home Farm Wensleydales who brought along some lambs to show and quickly ended up needle felting with Sally and then learning how to spin Wensleydale with Abby. Thank you to the Stratford Herald , Stratford Observer , Solihull Observer , Arrow Advertiser and lots of local organisations (including the Wensleydale Sheep Breed Association ) for publicising and reporting the event. Here are some pictures to remember the day ... Lovely exhibition of guild work Sally teaching needle felting at a mini-workshop The raffle was amazing (Ann at the Welcome Desk) talks to Diane (nice jacket) with Clare in background Some of the Wensleydale display Jane (right) was teaching spindle spinning Theresa was sp...

Wensleydale handspun, crocheted coat with hand-dyed locks (top) and Wensleydale sheep ( RBST website ) (below) Great timing means that the first Open Day that we have had in many years is occurring on Worldwide Spin in Public Day (WSIP). So this is an opportunity to take our spinning outside too (weather permitting). Please come and visit us at our usual meeting place (Stratford-upon-Avon Methodist Church Hall, Old Town, CV37 6BG) from 12.00-3.30 for an immersive and fun afternoon learning about our crafts. We have been planning this event for months so can offer lots of delights to interest and educate  visitors. There will be displays and demonstrations of our core crafts of weaving (including tapestry), spinning (all sorts of fibres) and dyeing (both natural and synthetic) and as well as a special exhibition of items made from Wensleydale fleece, a rare breed of native longwool sheep. We will have a sales table with items related to our crafts and/or made by membe...

The tradition in July is to meet at Abby's house in Southam and embrace activity that makes use of her glorious outside space for dyeing, drying the dyed work and taking on other messy/expansive tasks that don't fit well within the confines of a carpeted church hall. This July we will have the familiar indigo vat prepared for us by Abby to dip into. Ann is bringing along some madder root and other goodies for experimenting with reds.  We also hope that you will bring large jars and colourful flower heads/plant materials to try your hand at concocting some takeaway solar dye jars. Flower heads and plants can also be used to create some eco-bundles we hope.    Abby and Chris have just set up some first experiments in solar dyeing and also tried some eco-bundle contact dyeing of cotton bags. We can look inside the jars at what happened at the July meeting (if we get enough sun for solar dyeing to take between now and then) and we will see what happened to those lovel...

THIS EVENT HAS NOW BEEN CANCELLED due to the ill-health of the tutor. The June meeting will now be one where we catch up on projects such as cotton spinning, rigid heddle projects, and other creative endeavours. The guild newsletter provides more detail. Learn more about small portable braiding techniques (emphasis on flat and square braids) at our next meeting (arranged by Jane Lucas and taught by Freda Robinson at Arabesque Braids ).  In her talk in the morning Freda invites us to 'Follow me in my adventures into braiding, and share an exploration of many different braids and their uses.  See and examine many braids I have collected in my travels Ireland to Peru; Nepal to Ukraine and many countries in between.  See the development of braids from Viking times to the present day and explore their potential for yourself.' After lunch Freda will teach us braiding techniques using kumihimo discs and lucets, including how to make beaded bracelets. There is a smal...

Guest speaker Sarah Wroot will be teaching an Introduction to Cotton Spinning session (10 participants max) on the morning of the next ‘birthday’ meeting (20 May, 10.30-12.00) and will also do a talk on Cotton in the afternoon (after lunch from around 2pm) with demonstrations of different techniques and equipment and an opportunity to ‘have a go’. She will be bringing a charkha with her. Sarah (pictured spinning here) is a hand spinner who is learning to weave in order to use her hand spun yarn. She has published several articles in Spin Off, demonstrated spinning techniques for John Styles’ Historic Textiles workshop at the V&A, woven hand spun fabrics for use in the film industry, and offers workshops on fine spinning, cotton spinning and spinning for weaving. Currently living in Cambridgeshire, she and her husband expect to return to Canada in 2017. More information about her interests and work can be found on her blog ‘carpe diem’ at https://wroot.blog The morni...

Tom Blunt will be visiting the guild in the morning to give a talk about the work of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust . His talk will be in the morning and is sure to be interesting (although note that he won't be bringing fleeces for sale on this occasion). His session starts at 10.30 in Side Room 1 and 2 but please allow plenty of time to get here if travelling in by car. This is also the day when Stratford closes roads in its centre (7.30-12.30) to celebrate Shakespeare's birthday!   As he is buried at Holy Trinity Church, opposite where we meet, you may encounter road closures and need to make a detour or approach from a different direction. Ann has prepared some very clear directions ( link here ) and has briefed the organisers so that they know who we are and why you need to be able to pass their barriers. It will speed your access if you email us in advance to let you know you are coming so we can pass on that information. Please come along in the morning to support this...

Our at home meetings don’t always land on the 1 st of the month, or take place on a Saturday, but on 1 st April Chris hosted a weaving themed 'at home'. Fifteen guild members attended and had a busy day with many of them gathered in the ‘weaving’ shed where these pictures were taken (thanks Theresa). A really good attendance and we were very happy to send two of the guild’s rigid heddle looms out for trial with keen new users – perhaps we can encourage more of our spinners to be weavers too?   As usual spinning and other crafts – knitting, crochet and peg-looming in this case – also played a part. Steve (Chris’ husband) is working on adapting one of the guild's older looms and we have at least one more ready for warping up, so these can be loaned out too. If you have a yen to try rigid heddle weaving then get in touch ( email ). Help should be available at the meeting on the 22 nd April to get you going. You may notice that Sally is using a narrow braid loom ...

In November of last year the committee set us a challenge to work with Wensleydale. Jane provided the materials and sent us off with 100gm each of Wensleydale fleece. We were challenged to 'do something' with the locks - and bring this back to show in the February meeting. Fabulous felted hat with dyed locks and felted mini balls by Sally And rise to the challenge we did. The contributions were varied, and demonstrated so many of the creative 'yarn' crafts that we all enjoy. There was felting, picture art, weaving, knitting, and the rest. No limits to our creative imaginations. (Further photos are in the Member's area). Fancy a coffee? crocheted cuffs with locks by Abigail lovely melange of spun alpaca and Wensleydale for these fingerless gloves by Liz a woolly Wensleydale knitted nest by one of our newer members A little Wensleydale certainly goes a long way. a tableful of creative endeavours includi...

From April the website address for the Stratford upon Avon Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers will change to  wsdstratford.blogspot.com . If you visit the 'old' address http://www.wsd-stratford.org.uk/ you will be automatically redirected after 10 seconds. This new site has been designed to be easier to read on mobile devices and also to be more visual. So say goodbye to our old site and welcome to the new!