Just as textile crafters bring together individual threads to create objects which are both useful and beautiful, craft guilds draw together those makers into a community of support, learning and friendship.
Etobicoke Handweavers and Spinners (EHS), founded more than half a century ago, is such a guild, encouraging an interest in handweaving, spinning and dyeing, offering services and learning opportunities to members and educating the larger community about our crafts. Please visit About EHS to discover our beautiful studio space, extensive resources and comprehensive program of guest speakers and workshops. And visit Membership to join.
Check out some highlights from our recent show at Neilson Park Creative Centre below. To view the full show, please click here.
Karen Fowler – Crazy Tea Towels
100% Cotton. These tea towels are Christmas presents for my sons-just a little late.
Joan McKenzie – Norwegian Band Sampler
Cotton and wool. Band weaving with Pickup. Bands were woven on a backstrap loom in traditional Norwegian patterns.
Etobicoke Handweavers and Spinners – Royal Winter Fair Competition Shawl 2019
100% wool. 8 harness twill from the Carol Strickler Book.
Maura Leahy – New Beginnings
Merino wool, wet felted. This was made using a resist and then felting and forming into a vessel and embellishing with fins, gills and balls
Lori Bond – Summer of 2019 – Working with 3 Skeins
Wool and cotton. Knitting, crocheting, braiding, weaving and needle felting
Elizabeth Evans – Kimono Vest and My Cup of Tea Scarf
Kimono Vest: Cotton, silk, tencel. Handwoven, patchwork. Dana Marie Kimono Vest pattern My Cup of Tea: Wool. Dyed with tea. Stripes are a result of high twist yarns.
Elizabeth Evans – Perfume Bottle
Wool. Handwoven. Two very good friends designed the stripes in the warp 30 years ago. They were inspired by a beautiful perfume bottle. The scarf was woven in 2021 by a newer friend.
Helen Skelton – Wonder Woman
Mixed material. 8 shaft bound point rosepath. Graphic boundweave superheros and video game graphics.
Susan Lapell – Take the Cotton and Spin Me in the Morning
Handspun from medicine bottle “cotton” (most likely rayon or polyester fibre)
Joan McKenzie – Shades of Bright
Baby Alpaca boucle for warp, wool fingering for weft. This scarf was woven on a Rigid Heddle loom – a quick and easy way to weave a scarf!
Joan McKenziee – Colours of NPCC Rug 1 and Rug 2
Wool yarn dyed with Madder, Goldenrod and Walnut. Guild Challenge using yarn dyed with plants from NPCC park.
Karen Fowler – Wedding Blanket
100% Harrisville wool. Braided twill design. This blanket is a gift for my niece who got married in September 2019.
Elizabeth Evans – Mixed Bag
100% cotton. Weaving, tablet weaving. Pattern is “Buckthorn Tote” by Noodlehead.
Joan McKenzie – Tea Towels
Cottolin – 60% cotton, 40% linen, Cotton Slub. 2/2 Broken Point Twill. “I like using Cottolin as it combines the softness of Cotton with the crispness of Linen. This pattern is similar to what the Vikings wove in the 10th Century – as documented by Agnes Geijer in “A History of Textile Art. “
Maura Leahy – My Party Dress
Black and hand dyed Merino wool and hand dyed silk. Nuno felted which entails laying wool in the pattern seen on silk and then felting both together. The garment is reversible.
Elizabeth Evans – Up For A Challenge
Hand woven and hand spun. My response to a guild challenge issued in 2020. I received a bag of red, yellow and white wool fibre which I spun into yarn The weave structure comes from the 1947 edition of Home Weaving by Oscar Bériau and uses small amounts of commercial cotton.
Karen Fowler – Beautiful Blues
100% Tencel. Pattern from Bateman Innovations. This pattern is my favourite pattern from his book. It is a great scarf pattern as both sides are equally interesting
Vanessa Crandall – Navy Check Towel and Sea Glass Towel
Navy Check Towel: Cotton and Linen, pattern from Gist Yarn Sea Glass Towel: Cotton, pattern from Sarah Jackson
Jane MacFarlane – Colours of NPCC Pencil Case
100% wool. Knitted then Felted with Zipper inserted. My entry for Colours of NPCC. Pencil case was knit, then felted, and a pom pom put on an inserted zipper. It is lined with a vintage silk scarf.
Karen Fowler – Lacey Poncho
100% Handspun wool. I loved knitting this poncho so much that I made a second one in ivory.
Karen Fowler – Colour Play
100% Cotton. This is a tea towel and a gamp all in one. Shadow weave is one of my most favourite weave structures.
Lori Bond – If He Was A Shepherd
Wool fleece and naturally dyed yarn. Crocheting, needle felting and embroidery.
Helen Skelton – Snap Crackle Pop
Zephyr Merino Silk yarn. Jamtland Dral (Crackle). Scarf made for colour interaction study.
Cindy O’Malley – Funky Felted Fedora
Uses Wool roving for the hat and Colours of NPCC for embellishments. Knitted and felted.
Joan McKenzie – A Study in Colour
Mercerized and Perle Cotton. Plain weave with a supplementary warp. From a workshop, this piece shows how your perception of colour shifts with different blends of colour. Warp is all red or green – samples of weft colours are attached.