The Clyde Coast Guild of Weavers, Spinners, and Dyers

Due to unforeseen circumstances the March meeting is now cancelled.
The next Guild event is the Transition West Kilbride Class and Demo day on Sunday 25th March.
The next public meeting is on Sunday 22nd April at Once A Sheep, Gourock.
We’re sorry for the short notice and please do get in touch if you’ve any questions.

I’m afraid we’ve had to have a change of venue for the Sunday 18th March meeting, so it has now moved to Once A Sheep, 60 Kempock Street, Gourock instead of being in West Kilbride.
It will be a public meeting so members and non-members are welcome to attend.
Do get in touch if you want any further details.

We had our first proper Guild demonstration on Wednesday 22 February for the Ripe Bunch in Greenock. The Ripe Bunch were a group of enthusiastic ladies who were keen and eager to hear about spinning, weaving, and dyeing, and some of them even had a go themselves. Innes gave a great talk about spinning and a bit about the Guild as well which went down really well. Below are a few pictures from the morning.

Sandy spinning and Moira sitting spinning

Ange setting up the looms

Table full to to bursting with our handspun and handwoven samples

Innes talking to the ladies

Innes demonstrating the Easy Spinner

Sandy carding some fibre

From fluffy fibre to yarn

On Sunday 20th November we gathered at Old Maiden Aunt Yarns in West Kilbride to start work on our Guild banner. We're wanting to have a banner for use at any public demonstrations or classes. Rosie, who is our resident felting expert, became banner manager for the day and made sure that we all knew what we had to do. Kimmie and Innes were on carding duty to help blend in the colours and create lovely artistic effects, while Karen, Seona, Mhairi, Ange, and Rosie, laid the fibre in the right places. The fun bit of wetting and squidging the fibre was next, before it was then rolled up to create the help. This is where Innes' walking expertise came to hand as she made sure we all rolled at the same time and sing. The end result is an awesome felted fabric that is going to be great as our banner. Next we have to add in text and embellishments, so watch this space to see how it turns out. Thanks to Lilith for letting us take over her studio for the day. The back room was an excellent space for the job. The rest of the meeting was then taking up with some relaxing spinning and chat. You can find photos of the day by clicking here.

Innes and I ventured down to the Dumfries Guilds Annual Gathering.

It was a great day out and we were very warmly welcomed and looked after by the members of the Guild.

Inside the hall there was:
Wheeldale Woolcrafts who had scrummy hand-dyed yarn and fibre and inspiration kits

Gilmour Bank Alpacas who brought excellent quality alpaca fleece and yarn and other alpaca goodies

Fiona Moir who had hand-woven baskets and beautifully dyed yarn, silks and cotton fabric


A display by the Dumfries Guild with the objects from this years challenge which was to design a piece that was inspired by Sanquhar knitting
Lovely hand-woven textiles by Brenda Telfer
A great selection of yarns from Linton Direct Yarns
Beautiful beaded and metal jewellery

During the afternoon there was a very interesting talk by May MacCormick about Sanquhar knitting and the patterns. She also brought samples of the gloves and the stockings which were stunning.

Overall, it was a really good day out and I think we will be seeing more of the Dumfries Guild in the future.

The Dumfries Guild is holding it’s Annual Gathering on Saturday 12th November 2011 at St. Theresa’s Church Hall, Glasgow Road, Dumfries, DG2 9DE.
There will be some stalls, demonstrations, teas, coffees, and home-baking. There is also going to be a Sanquhar Pattern Challenge as well.
There are a couple of Guild members going so do get in touch if you want to go too.

The Clyde Coast Guild formed in October 2010 to encourage and promote the crafts of weaving, spinning, dyeing and other textile related crafts, within the local area.

Our meetings are held on the third Sunday of each month at either Gourock, Dunoon, or West Kilbride.

Do feel free to come and join us, whether it’s just to have a go or if you want to share your knowledge of any of these crafts.

If you have any queries then do feel free to contact us.