Fibre, land and community interwoven.
We are growing a regional textile culture from soil to soil, connecting people with the fibres, skills, histories and relationships that shape the cloth we use every day.
What if more of our cloth began here?
The West Kootenay Fibreshed brings together growers, fibre producers, processors, artisans, educators and fibre-curious community members to strengthen the relationships, skills and infrastructure needed for a resilient regional textile system.
Think watershed, but for fibre.
A fibreshed is a geographically defined region in which the resources and relationships needed to create textiles are understood as an interconnected system.
Rather than thinking about a garment only at the point of purchase, a fibreshed asks us to follow it back through the people, processes and landscapes that made it possible, and to consider what happens to that material at the end of its life.
A climate-resilient bioregion where fibre, land and community are interwoven.
Rebuilding the pieces of a regional textile system.
Regional fibres
We explore fibres that can grow and thrive here, including flax, nettles, wool, alpaca and other place-responsive materials.
Material literacy
Hands-on learning reconnects people with the labour, knowledge and transformation that take raw material from soil to cloth.
Tools + infrastructure
Shared tools and community infrastructure make fibre processing and textile skills more accessible across the region.
Regional networks
We help growers, processors, makers, educators and community members find one another and build relationships.
Textile culture
Making, sewing, natural dyeing, mending and repair keep textile knowledge alive and extend the life of materials.
Soil-to-soil thinking
We consider the full material lifecycle, including what materials are made from, how they are used and where they ultimately go.
A bioregional practice.
A Fibreshed begins with attention to place: climate, soils, plants, animals, watersheds, skills, communities and the histories that have shaped them.
Our work is rooted in the West Kootenay bioregion. Rather than importing a single model of what a local fibre economy should look like, we ask what materials and practices make sense here and what relationships are needed to sustain them.
This means looking at the fibres that can be cultivated or raised here, but also at the knowledge, labour, infrastructure and community needed to move those fibres from raw material into useful cloth.
Material literacy requires historical literacy.
Relationship is part of the infrastructure.
A resilient textile system is not simply a collection of equipment, crops or workshops. It depends on people being able to learn from one another, share resources, build trust, experiment and contribute their knowledge in different ways.
Start with what is here
We look to regional fibres, plants, people, skills and landscapes as the starting point for our work.
Learn through doing
Hands-on practice helps people understand the labour, ecology and skill embedded in materials.
Build networks, not silos
A regional fibre system becomes stronger when growers, processors, makers, educators and communities can find one another.
Leave room to experiment
Rebuilding regional textile knowledge requires trying things, sharing what we learn and allowing practices to evolve over time.
Share tools and knowledge
Equipment, learning opportunities and community resources are more useful when people can access them together.
Think beyond production
We value maintenance, repair, mending and stewardship alongside growing and making new things.
Textile systems are made by people.
Our programs create opportunities for people to gather around materials, learn from one another and participate in textile systems at different points in the cycle.
Some members grow fibre. Some spin, weave, sew or dye. Some raise animals, tend plants, teach, mend, design, research or simply want to understand where cloth comes from.
We see those different entry points as a strength.
Built to support a regional network.
The West Kootenay Fibreshed Society is a registered nonprofit organization supporting regional fibre systems, textile arts, material literacy and community learning across the West Kootenay bioregion.
We are part of the wider Fibershed movement while shaping our work around the particular materials, communities and conditions of this region.
Meet the people tending the Fibreshed.
Our work is shaped by a growing community of directors, coordinators, educators, artists, growers, volunteers and collaborators across the region.
Together, we bring different kinds of knowledge and experience to the shared work of rebuilding a regional textile culture.
Meet Our TeamFind your place in the Fibreshed.
Grow something. Learn a skill. Meet a maker. Borrow a tool. Mend what you already own. Join a workshop. Become a member. Every point in the cycle is a place to begin.