The Sunshine Coast fourth annual Fibreshed Day, Landmade, was held April 7 at FibreWorks Studio and Gallery in Madeira Park, B.C. The event was open to the public to showcase local fibre producers, local botanical dyes, and local artisans.

Setting up for the day . . . some showers and some sunshine at the Gallery yurts.

The highlight of Fibreshed Day was the arrival of the frisky Shetlands from Gingerdell Farm, Gibsons.

Skye and her lambs settling in for a full day of pats and photo ops.

The Wrappers: Fibreshed local artisans were all wearing neck wraps made with local fibre, natural or dyed with local botanicals, to showcase Landmade wear.

This year’s door prize was a wrap made with local alpaca from LoreLee Farm, Roberts Creek. with trim dyed with local pokeberry. Lynda picked, washed, carded, and dyed the alpaca, (contributed by Tess), then Verna designed the pattern, spun the yarn, and knit the wrap.

Danielle was happily demonstrating carding local fleece using a drum carder.

Andrea used her hand carders to achieve a similar outcome to ready the fleece.

Spinners demonstrated how they made yarn on their spinning wheels.

Fibre from some of our fabulous producers!

Andrew had washed, carded, and spun some of the Gotland fibre with a plan to weave pants.

Andrew’s Gotland yarn, ready for the loom.

Mushroom dyeing demo and alpaca sales from Laughlin Creek Farm, Madeira Park.

Barn to Yarn to gorgeous finished fashion! All the fibre producers and artisans such as fibre farmers, washers, pickers, carders, dyers, spinners, weavers, knitters and felters are proudly listed on each Fibreshed tag. True Slow Fashion!

Starter kits for your own dye garden were popular sale items as were the cute needle felted seed pots for that special Japanese Indigo plant.

Verna enjoying preparing yarn on her Turkish spindle for some future exotic fibre creation.

Dorothy finding more uses for fleece. Here she is using leftover fleece to make beautiful wreaths
and hooked sheep patches.

Our slow fashion display!

Jeannie showing Rodney, the freshly shorn Romney sheep from Wendy’s farm and discussing the characteristics of the breed and the qualities of a healthy fleece for uses such as spinning, felting and weaving.

Mary overseeing the local gourmet delights in her elegant llama wrap.

Connie Chapman was the happy winner of the Fibreshed door prize.

Post by Lynda Daniells
Images by Lynda Daniells and Ann Harmer