2024 Heritage Calgary Awards, Heritage Trades & Craftspeople - The 40 Mile Coat
2024 Heritage Calgary Awards
The 40-mile coat created by the Heritage Weavers and Spinners Guild of Calgary
Winner of the 2024 Heritage Calgary Award,
Heritage Trades & Craftspeople:
The 40 Mile Coat
The 40 Mile Coat project by the Heritage Weavers and Spinners Guild of Calgary was initiated as part of the organization celebrating its 40th anniversary. The entirety of the materials for the coat were sourced from an area no more than 40 miles from Calgary’s ring road. The coat is a wearable garment suitable for Calgary’s climate and style.
Heritage Calgary sat down with Dr. Lynne Cowe Falls from the Guild to learn a little bit more about the coat, its construction and the impact it has had on the Guild since the start of the project.
Can you describe the main goal of your initiative and the inspiration behind it?
Founded in 1978, the Heritage Weavers and Spinners Guild of Calgary (HWSGC) celebrated our 40th Anniversary with an all-guild project: The 40 Mile Coat. Using material sourced within a 40-mile radius of the Calgary Ring Road, we created a wearable garment suitable for our Calgary climate and style.
What makes this project or site particularly significant to the local community and its history?
This project involved both new and longer-standing guild members alike, and the sharing of ideas and expertise among our spinners, dyers, felters and, weavers engaged and energized our entire membership, highlighting our guild mandate to provide a forum for creative inspiration and shared knowledge in weaving, spinning and related fibre arts. Approximately 50% of members participated in the project and it became a catalyst for capacity building and regeneration. Since its unveiling, our guild membership has doubled!
How has this initiative helped engage the public or specific groups, such as youth or residents, in the project?
Our coat was exhibited at the Calgary Stampede, Heritage Park and Alberta Craft Council CSpace Gallery raising awareness of the importance and tradition of textile manufacturing. It has also been celebrated through medals at the Association of NorthWest Weavers Guild (ANWG) in Prince George (Best Group Project and Best Spinning), and at the Calgary Stampede Arts Showcase (Best Weaving and Overall Section Medal).
Why is it important for people to understand and appreciate the history and heritage of this particular area?
In a world of fast fashion and synthetic materials, our 40 Mile Coat exemplifies slow fashion and highlights the ancient, yet modern technologies, of spinning, dyeing and weaving using natural and sustainable materials - wool and silk. As we like to say, if it wasn’t for these technologies, we might still be either naked or dressed in skins!
The silk interior liner of the coat is dyed using real leaves from Calgary yards.
What challenges or considerations did you face in preserving or promoting local heritage through this initiative?
Our greatest challenge was to source materials within the 40 Mile radius constraint of the project. Working with local shepherds, we used beautiful Alberta wool to spin around 7,000 yds of yarn which was woven into 7 yds of fabric. The silk lining was purchased from a local supplier (no silk production exists in Alberta) and leaves from Calgary backyards and gardens were imprinted onto the fabric using eco-printing techniques. Finally, instead of buttons, toggle closures were carved from local lilac twigs. The coat was designed and constructed by two of our members.
Looking forward, how do you see this project continuing or evolving in the future to engage more people or further preserve local heritage?
A major component of the project was to share our expertise, experience and knowledge with the public and other fibre artists/guilds as part of our guild mandate to increase the profile and understanding of weaving, spinning and related fibre arts in the community. Based upon the success of the 40 Mile Coat, we hope that this project inspires other guilds to undertake such a project and of course, to champion Alberta fine crafts and to showcase our body of expertise!
Providing educational opportunities and community outreach, our Guild is dedicated to furthering the fibre arts in the Calgary area and have an active membership of spinners, weavers, felters, dyers and artists. Our studio at the Austrian Canadian Culture Centre is home to our library and equipment, both of which are used extensively by the membership and where we hold many events, including regular meetups, open studio times, study groups, courses and workshops and our annual sale.
The Heritage Calgary Awards celebrate the diverse heritage of our shared home. Every second year we honour those who have made efforts to identify, preserve, and promote heritage in Calgary to help enrich our communities.