Welcome to the website for the Cambridgeshire Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers.

The Guild’s aim is to share our interest in the textile arts, especially handweaving, spinning, dyeing and constructed textiles.

Covid-19 update (29 May 2020):  While we cannot meet in person at present, we are delighted to announce that our Guild talks are going online!

Our Programme Secretary writes:

On the Saturday afternoons on which our Guild meetings would normally take place (see below) we now have new speakers who will give a talk over the Zoom platform online.  The link to each Zoom meeting will be sent out a couple of days beforehand with instructions on how to join.  

 

Please make a note in your diary of the dates below so you can join up with your fellow members online.  Bear with us while we give this our best shot – it’s a learning curve for everyone!  Each virtual meeting will last 40 minutes in total with a few minutes towards the end of each for any questions.  Details as follows:  

 

Magic carpets: a journey through the make-up of antique rugs: Saturday 30^th May – 2pm on Zoom 

Member Paul McGhee cheerfully admits to being addicted to rugs. He will tell us how this addiction took hold, and how this lead him from trying to repair old rugs to dyeing, spinning and weaving, and to tracking down the fascinating history of some of these unloved antique masterpieces.  

 

Creativity with a peg loom: colourful & easy weaving Saturday 27^th June – 2pm on Zoom

Peg looms initially befuddle our logic as weavers with their loose warps and disarmingly easy weaving.  Member Jane Brighouse will take us through her own exploration of peg loom weaving, showing us how to get started and what kind of results you can achieve using either hand-spun or bought yarns.

 

Threads of life: Exploring Chinese Knotting: Saturday 26^th September – 2pm on Zoom

Part of traditional culture going back well over a thousand years, Chinese knotting, now a decorative art, is said to have originated from a means of communicating ideas that pre-dates writing.  Member Eona Bell, who also administers our Textile Traditions Study Group, will tell us more about the methods and symbolism of this art form.

 

We look forward to having your company online: a link for each meeting will be sent out a couple of days in advance.

Please check this page or our Facebook page for news of when other activities will resume.