Planning for Spring events heats up

Early warmth has brought everything out of hibernation- including us. Just because you haven’t heard much of late from Urban Cloth doesn’t mean nothing is going on- just the opposite, and thought it time to post a bit of what we are up to.

fall workshops…

For our Hastings Urban Farm  component:

The results of various community fibre processing, blending, and spinning workshops have now been dyed with natural dye made from various pollinator friendly plants- all shades of yellow keeping to our bee theme… then we began waxing the line with wax from the Hasting Urban Farm hives- OUR OWN WAXED LINEN LINE AT LAST!

Spool knitting on handmade frames

first little beeskep sculptures completed at the downtown east-side women’s centre

workshops are taking place in the area  to  crochet and knit the waxed line into ‘pollinator-friendly-zone markers’

Our next workshop happens with the Hastings Urban Farm community hive-keepers on March 23- and a few workshop dates are yet to be confirmed.

We have settled on June 6th as the final celebration for the Hastings project component– when the markers will be up along Hastings Street. Sarah Common from Hives for Humanity will led us that day on a walk of the street, sharing why certain areas are noteworthy as pollinator friendly zones. We will end up back at Hastings Urban Farm for tea  and a special presentation that features some of the performative research that has been a part of this project.

Mirae’s new dance shoes- the final fitting

Events are also planned now for this Spring at Trillium North, specifically as the dance and fibre research finds a rooted connection literally through our feet.

cedar bark and daylily- a hybrid of traditional and introduced plant fibres…

This began back in a early winter group studio date- when Tracy took off on the idea of weaving a pair of shoes…

Suddenly shoes seemed full of potential.

I pushed my weaving skills, and woven a pair that fit Mirae with the idea she could dance in them- then leave them somehow in the landscape as a trace of our actions.

daylily, stinging nettle, new zealand flax and willow bark- the fibers from Means of Production Garden

Now, we push to find a shoe design and method that can be taught to new weavers in a limited amount of time for use with community dancers who will make their own for wearing and dancing. Rebecca Graham has led me to a traditional Japanese style flip flop that looks promising- using rope we would make, and simple weaving in a method similar to  a back-strap loom… more research  to come!