The group has been preparing for their August exhibition, Fibre Revival. The title itself is a clear indication of the group’s focus on recycling, sustainability, and environmental consciousness. The exhibition promises to be an exquisite and thought-provoking display of spinning, knitting, weaving, felting, and other textile arts, showcasing the talent and dedication of the group’s members.

One of the featured artists is Pat, whose works are made with harakeke, feathers, and natural dyes.

Pat: I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Māori Arts, which enabled me to create these works. This work is a protest on the speed of the road outside where I lived at the time; the feathers are all from roadkill birds. There’s a proverb that goes, “Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu: Adorn the bird with feathers and it can fly”, so I’m enabling them to fly again.

The [triangular patterns] are aronui, which is centred around the natural world, but I tend to adjust the designs a little to create my own. I dye the harakeke myself; I have my own pā harakeke.

I’ve been spinning since I was a teenager. And felting and weaving. It’s always been my ambition to spin muka – the fibre from flax. That’s what initially brought me into the raranga program here. I also teach spinning nationally; there’s quite a movement back towards natural concepts and methods. The slow fashion movement, the slow craft movement: we’re picking up quite a few members who might have young children, or are stuck at home, and are interested in sustainability.

Many members use natural dyes for their fibres, such as plants, flowers, and leaves – we spy a beautiful purple fibre which has been died with cochineal, a small insect that produces a vibrant red pigment. Acids or alkaline solutions can be added to shift the pH level and change the colour.

Pat: Whenever I’ve got a dye bath with a bit of colour leftover, I’ll pop some wool in there and soak up the last of the dye. Then I’ll tear a strip off and spin that, and hopefully it’ll be made into something.

Crochet expert Joan takes us through her process.

Joan: You lay out your fibre, put soap and hot water on it, and hand manipulate it down to something like this. It becomes a lot more durable. We also do a lot of handweaving with looms. There are different types of loom, like the Rigid-Heddles looms which just have two shafts. I’ve got a loom at home that’s the size of a Queen-sized bed, and I can do big blankets on that.

We source our fibre from different traders. We’ll have a large number of traders at our exhibition that provide fleece and yarn. Most of it comes from around the country; some of the cotton and linen has to come from overseas because we just don’t produce it here. Some people work in acrylic, because it’s easier to maintain and it doesn’t matter if it gets chucked in the washing machine. Acrylic fibre nowadays is actually pretty soft; you’ve just got to remember that it’s basically plastic. I wore this purple shawl last week, and it kept me pretty warm. It just doesn’t have quite the same cold weather capabilities that wool has.

Rosanne’s beautifully crafted cream shawl and gloves, made from Shetland Island wool, will undoubtedly be a favourite at the exhibition.

Rosanne: I was gifted this wool. It’s their livelihood on the Shetland Islands; it’s how they survive. This has actually been tested in Antarctica; I went to Antarctica a couple of months ago, and wore these [gloves] with a possum hat, and was very warm.

We’re taken into a room full of fibre crafters hard at work. Maren is seated at a table, pulling fibres through two instruments in a technique she tells us is called hand carding.

Maren: We haven’t actually agreed on what this fibre is; it was a donation. I thought it was kid mohair; one of us think it’s from a dog. See these little curls? That’s very typical of kid mohair. Here I’m holding two carders. You put the fibre on the carder, align the fibres, and begin to brush them. You then use a tool called a diz, which is a metal plate with holes in it, to remove the wool. Then you spin it.

The room also houses a drum carder, which is suitable for larger requirements, although we’re told the process isn’t much quicker.

Maren: This drum carder pulls the fibres in, and I run the brush over them to help the fibres align. I was hoping that drum carding would be quicker, but it’s not. It takes more focus, and I don’t actually need to look at the hand carding while I do it.

Anne is spinning fibre on a Turkish spindle that she’s stuck Blu-Tack on the bottom of to give it some weight.

Anne: This is the way all of our clothing was done before the spinning wheel. I often think about the Viking women making sails for their ships. It’s good for slow fashion, because you never make too much. That’s one of the wonderful things about this skill; it engages the heart, the hand and the head.

Next to her, Shuling is spinning on a wheel; she’s new to the art, but is determined not to give up.

Shuling: It must spin clockwise; if I start moving my feet wrong, it spins the wrong way. I also can’t go too fast. There is a lot to learn, but it’s very interesting. I joined the group this year; I can’t knit or crochet with [the wool] I’m spinning yet, so I’m using it to tie up my plants at home. It’s natural, after all!

Eleonora has also only recently joined the group. She’s knitting a sweater, but is also working on a giant lace shawl for the exhibition, made from a wool-silk mix.

Eleonora: I’ve been knitting for ten years, since I was in university. I learned on YouTube, and when I lived in Sydney we’d do wine and knit nights. It’s massive on TikTok. There’s a whole heap of new knitters, from engineering backgrounds, design backgrounds, interior designers… The online community is massive, and they’re all in their twenties and thirties.

Maren: You can learn all sorts of things here. Become a members and you’ll learn felting, how to dye fibre, spinning, weaving, crochet, knitting… For many years, knitting, for example, was out. When I was in school, I would knit under the table; I’d knit a jersey in a week. I made all my kids’ clothes. Then, all of a sudden, you couldn’t buy fabrics anymore, you couldn’t buy nice wool, and it all went out of fashion. For the last five to ten years, it’s been coming back. It’s calming, it’s meditative; you get a sense of achievement.

Fibre Revival, at the Tauranga Racecourse from 11 to 13 August, is not to be missed. Visitors will have the opportunity to try their hand at spinning, knitting, weaving, and felting, and experience the magic of fibre art for themselves. Free entry for children and students. The members of Tauranga Creative Fibre are a group of passionate and talented artisans, and it’s clear that their love of their craft will continue to inspire and enthral visitors for years to come.

This exhibition is supported by the Creative Communities Scheme.

 

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