Seminars
June 14 th and 15 th

Click image for enlargement.
When registering we could chose three of 76 two hour seminars offered by 24 instructors from across Canada and the US. Some topics were offered twice, and some filled two time slots, but there was still a lot of choice.

My first seminar was "Weaving TnT: Dynamite Tips n' Techniques for Every Weave" by Robyn Spady. It was a very interesting talk with a handout full of good ideas but I took no pictures.

On this page are two seminars by Sue Perron. In the first, "Fibres on the Wild side", we learned about using both wild and domesticated plants for fibre for weaving and basket making. Here I was using a rolling pin to break the outer fibres of dried fireweed and get at the long fine fibres inside.

(14:06:2019)

Dry fireweed at the right, green fireweed, tarragon and hemp top to bottom at the left.

(14:06:2019)
One of my classmates was doing a good job of stripping long fibres from nettle. Mine was a broken mess.

(14:06:2019)

Fresh and dried fireweed, flax and some other plants for fibre.

(14:06:2019)
More examples of plants that can be used for fibre.

(14:06:2019)

The second seminar by Sue Perron was titled "Cienture Fleche: a Brief Walk Though History.

We learned about the history of the sashes worn by the fur traders and the Metis people of Canada and the USA.

Then we learned a bit about how they are made. Here is my beginning attempt at making a small finger woven band.

(15:06:2019)
It takes a long time to make the finger woven sashes, which were sometimes 8 feet long and 10 or 12 inches wide as they were used for pockets, for back support, and for carrying heavy loads.

When the makers asked for more money the Hudson's Bay company instead had loom woven copies made by white people in Quebec and Coventry, England.

This is a loom woven copy of an Assomption Sash, made in Coventry.

(15:06:2019)

These are finger woven Assomption sashes. Notice the sharper arrows in the sash on the left.

Assomption was an area of Montreal. Sashes were often identified by the place they were made.

(15:06:2019)
More sashes and some musical instruments used by the Metis people.

(15:06:2019)

Coats, or Cabots, were made from Hudson's Bay blankets.

(15:06:2019)
This was a demonstration of how to weave starting from the centre using two colours to make the arrows.

(15:06:2019)

This is the instruction demo for the single direction band like the one I started above.

While learning the basics of how to make these complex sashes we also learned a lot of the history of the Metis in Canada and how they have been treated by both of their ancestral peoples over the years.

(15:06:2019)
Post Script - after coming home I eventually did a needle woven sample to represent a loom woven sash.

(29:06:2019)

Two finger woven "sashes" on the left and the competed need woven sash on the right.

the black and white one was easy, the orange and green, not so much. It took about 90 minutes to "weave" an 8 inch band. Needle weaving also took a couple of hours. It would definitely be easier on a loom!

(30:06:2019)
Click the Home button below to return to the main button menu.