SNEAK PREVIEW
Fleece and Fibre: Textile Producers of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands
A fascinating look at the world of small-scale textile farms along the Salish Sea and their pivotal role in sustainable, artisanal textile production and the slow fashion movement.
“This book is highly recommended for people wanting to learn more about the farming and land-based community of this region through the lens of fibre. Also recommended for those considering how to journey into their own home regions and meet the fibre farming community of their distinct regions.”
—Rebecca Burgess, founder of the Fibershed movement and author of Fibershed: Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy
Author Francine McCabe is a mixed-blood Anishinaabe writer, fibre artist, and organic master gardener from Batchewana First Nation. She is also an active member of the Vancouver Island Fibreshed network.
“Fleece & Fibre is a snapshot of history and a call to action for local fibre ecosystems around the world.”
—Raven Ranson, Fibre farmer and author of Homegrown Linen: Transforming flaxseed to linen
Filled with beautiful, colour photography of farms, landscapes, livestock, and textiles, Fleece and Fibre offers an intimate snapshot of the farms and people who work them.
Both animal-based fibres (sheep, alpaca, llama, angora, mohair, cashmere) and cellulose-based fibres (flax, hemp, invasive plants) are included.
“Wool enthusiasts and armchair travellers alike will be inspired by the world revealed within these pages. Beyond a resource book of regional fibre farmers, animals, and the plant possibilities for cloth, McCabe has gifted us with an important and beautiful book that documents the growing revolution underway: reconnecting our clothing to farming.”
—Sharon Kallis, author of Common Threads and director of EartHand Gleaners Society
“Fleece & Fibre is a beautiful and rigorous resource . . . A guidebook like this should exist in every fibreshed across the country as a call to action for consumers, fibre artists and textile producers to work together to build up local textile economies.”
—Anna Hunter, author of Sheep, Shepherd & Land: Stories of Sheep Farmers Reinvigorating Canadian Wool
“Fleece & Fibre is a valuable resource . . . This delightful book will spark your interest in the farming, production, and the magic of locally sourced fibre.”
—Caitlin ffrench, artist and author of Gathering Colour
