Toronto Guild of Spinners and Weavers

09/03/2026

The 2026- 27 season for the Toronto Guild of Spinners and Weavers begins on September 9, 2026. A panel of previous TGSW Bursary winners, Roslyn Darling, Judith Fielder, Sarah Lawson and Patricia Phelan, will discuss the research projects they were able to pursue with this financial assistance. This will be followed by a Show and Tell of summer projects. If you want to attend this meeting and the next 9 it is time to renew your membership or join for the first time.

08/04/2026

Guild member Joe Lewis is giving two workshops are August 14 and 21 as part of Small Things: Tea, Teachings and Just Being Together at Laboratory for Artistic Intelligence Registration is now open

Come join us for tea, teachings, and just being together. Small Things: Tea, Teachings & Being Together is a series of creative workshops led by Indigenous and settler artists presented by Scadding Court Community Centre, and Laboratory for Artistic Intelligence, with the support of the Toronto Arts...

06/25/2026

The summer Textile Drop In at Riverdale Farm Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation begins again on Tuesday June 30. 1-3 pm Being summer is is happening on the front porch of Simpson House just inside the main gate. Bring your own projects The Farm wool processing equipment: combs, carding mill, and spinning wheels will be available. The Cabbagetown Farmers' Market will be setting up while you are on porch and will be open when the Drop In finishing.

05/31/2026

Guild Member Joe Lewis is doing a Rag Weaving workshop at the Textile Museum of Canada as part of Takes Action's Climate Week events. ( there is a waiting list)

Learn how to rag weave a cell phone case with Joe Lewis! No prior experience is required, and materials are provided. This class provides a supportive, beginner-friendly environment to build a foundation in weaving and upcycling so participants can feel confident to upcycle their own textiles.

05/23/2026

Saturday May 23 2026 10am - 3 pm is the Spring Celebration at Riverdale Farm Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Its the day the sheep get sheard. Members of the guild will be there demonstrating the numerous of turning a sheep's fleece into fabric. Here are some photos from todays event. Due to the weather the visitor numbers were low, but the volunteers from the Toronto Guild of Spinners and Weavers were ready for them. Carding, Spinning, weaving on bookmark looms and the Tapestry loom were being demonstrated

05/23/2026

Wednesday May 13, 2026 Meeting was Sarah Lawson (Bursary Recipient) Sarah shared her explorations of ikat dyeing and weaving. Using a cartoon ( using prints taken off of manhole covers) ) to guide tying resists. She used multiple colours in the warp as well as multiple materials. The weaving was warp-faced plain weave. The dyes will include natural dyes (hopefully walnut and indigo) and synthetic MX procion dyes.

04/09/2026

Photos from the April 8 Guild meeting with guest speaker Khadija Aziz who after talk about her research-creation on the history of Kashmiri shawls and her public art project using South Asian mirror embroidery techniques, she gave a hands on Mirror Embroidery workshop

04/07/2026

Our speaker on April 8 is Khadija Aziz, She is an artist and educator born in Pakistan and based in Tkaronto. Her practice is rooted in textiles, a medium that carries histories of labour and migration of cultural knowledge. Using embroidery and photo scanner, she makes textile glitch art to investigate transformation and memory with a growing focus on how personal and cultural narratives migrate and shift across generations and geographies.

Khadija has been teaching embroidery in Toronto for nearly seven years, and other visual arts for over twelve years. She has received awards and grants from the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, Craft Ontario, the Ontario Museum Association, and the Surface Design Association, and her art has been exhibited and published in Canada, the US, Australia, Austria, and Prague. Khadija is currently a full-time artist-in-residence at Harbourfront Centre’s Textile Studio.

Khadija will talk about my Kashmiri shawl project after which she will lead a hands-on mirror embroidery workshop. Participants will explore the origins of this craft and learn to decorate cloth with shimmering glass mirrors, skills that can be applied to future projects like hoop art and garment embellishment.

03/27/2026

I have just been speaking with the president of Thunder Bay Weavers & Spinners Guild and she has given me an amazing breakdown of the Fibre scene in Thunder Bay including their relationship with Fort William Historical Park - Parc historique du Fort William were they raise Southdown, Dorset and more recently Rambouillet sheep. The relationship with the historic fort is similar to what we have with Riverdale Farm Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation in that they have access to their fleeces. We volunteer demonstrating wool processing for the city during the Farms public events; Family Day, Spring Festival when the sheep are sheard, which is coming up in May during Doors Open Toronto though it is not part of it and the Cabbagetown Art & Craft Show Textile Tourism in Canada is something that needs to be promoted more. I wrote an article about it for Selvedge Magazine Issue 44 Jan/ Feb 2012. It might be time for another one. Do you travel for textile events outside of Toronto? Have you gone on Textile Tours outside of Canada

03/22/2026

The Spring Textile Drop In at Riverdale Farm Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation will begin again on March 31, Bring a project to work on or some fleece to card and spin using the Farm's equipment. Hang out with other fibre people Tuesdays and Thursdays 1- 3 pm. ( bring a Tea Bag there is a kettle)