Weave your way through fashion trends with Albany Weavers latest exhibition

The Albany Weavers are set to hold an exhibition this month after more than 40 years of weaving at Vancouver Arts Centre.

The exhibition, titled Then and Now, will showcase fashion trends from the 1970s to the present day as interpreted through hand weaving.

It will be on display at the VAC from November 20 to 30.

Exhibits will include jackets, dresses, skirts, scarves, shawls, braids, tea towels, blankets, placemats and rugs with fibres as diverse as chunky hand-spun yarns to fine silks showcased.

Most times there will be an opportunity to watch weaving in action and there will also be a loom set up for visitors to “have a go”.

Two Weaving for Absolute Beginners workshops to take place next year can be booked by those who feel inspired to learn the craft.

The Albany Weavers was formed in 1976 after an Albany Summer School weaving course inspired a group to carry on with what they learned.

Early efforts to refine their craft were in the original Old Post Office on Stirling Terrace where looms were borrowed from the then Albany Arts Council with bed frames even utilised for weaving.

The group then moved to a room in the Residency Museum for a while and were eventually offered a derelict room at the old hospital, now VAC, as a more permanent home.

They scrubbed, scraped and painted to bring the room up to scratch and have been there ever since with a final major renovation thanks to the Albany Lions Club.

As well as weaving for themselves and friends, the group wove the blankets for the ship Endeavour under instructions from the British Museum of Natural History.