Ross Bay Villa

09/30/2026

National Truth and Reconciliation Day is September 30. The Ross Bay Villa Society encourages everyone to get out and visit one of the many local events that honour the survivors of residential schools and their families. The past is very much alive and public history work is a brilliant way to connect with it, through stories, fashion, music, and more.

Facebook restrictions on news articles prevents us from sharing directly, but please check out Victoria Buzz, Capital Daily, Victoria News, or the City of Victoria’s website for writeups on where to find these events in Victoria.

09/30/2026

National Truth and Reconciliation Day is September 30. The Ross Bay Villa Society encourages everyone to get out and visit one of the many local events that honour the survivors of residential schools and their families. The past is very much alive and public history work is a brilliant way to connect with it, through stories, fashion, music, and more.

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is an important time to acknowledge, learn about and honour the survivors of Canada's residential school system.

09/18/2026

Thanks to Flax to Linen Victoria for giving us a peek into the labour intensive process needed to turn “straw into gold”. Ross Bay Villa has always emphasized the learning and sharing of hands-on craft skills, so it was especially interesting to see how these women have mastered every step in the process, from the growing of the flax, the retting (or carefully rotting flax enough to allow the fibers to be removed from the hard stems), breaking, scutching, hackling, and more!

Those of you who missed this sold-out event can check out the YouTube video they’ve created showing the whole process. Search “Flax to Linen: How to grow flaxseed and transform it into linen cloth”. Enjoy!

09/18/2026

If you missed our very interesting linen event last night featuring Flax to Linen Victoria, you’re in luck!
Beatrice and Brenda created a whole video about the labour intensive process, growing flax, processing it, and turning it into beautiful cloth. Check out the video below.

Learn how to grow flax and transform it into linen cloth with this ...

09/18/2026

08/26/2026

Our volunteers love the periwinkle wallpaper pattern that hangs on the walls of the Villa’s restored children’s bedroom. It represents a huge amount of research and labour to recreate the original pattern and produce new wallpaper using a silkscreen. This is one of over 100 patterns found during restoration.

Last Saturday, we mixed fabric ink by hand and brought out the silkscreen again, with a skilled volunteer teaching others to use it. This time, we made tea towels! A thick layer of paint was applied at one end of the screen, and a rubber blade drawn firmly across the screen, transferring the colour through the open parts of the patterns to apply the wallpaper design to the cloth below. The screen was carefully pulled away, which is probably the most satisfying part of the process, as you see the completed pattern underneath. The towels were then laid out carefully on the grass with pebbles at the corners to prevent them blowing away.

Next week, we’ll iron them to ensure the ink is set. Once they’re finished off, they’ll go into our gift shop for truly one of a kind souvenirs!