Dorval Weavers Guild, 45 years of history    (by Monique Legault)

The Guild was founded in 1976 by Mrs  Marie Rankin and Alexandra Legault, two experienced weavers.

Seventeen members formed the original guild in 1976-77.  The majority were women but in 1989-90 we welcomed two men, Mr. Jacques Aubry and George Meredith. Jacques was Madame Laing's gardener and handyman, also known as a fun-loving human being, for he sang his songs at our social gatherings. It was fun to listen to and it created friendships among us.

There was a lot of mutual help between us. Once, Danyelle Brodeur having launched an S.O.S., Hélène Moreau and I answered it one evening after  work, drawn by the thought of her offer of hamburgers for dinner. We spent the evening untangling, then rewinding her warp, which was about ten yards long. We worked hard and laughed a lot.

At monthly meetings, lectures on various topics were presented:

October 26, 1990: Micheline Thabet talked to us about old fabrics.

 November 20, 1990: Conference on carpets and the technique to be used,  by Marcelle Magill.

January f15, 1991: Hélène Moreau gives us a course regarding  Ikat  ( it Is a procedure where dyeing and weaving is done in a way, where a  picture is created by dyeing the thread on the warp  before weaving).

Workshops on topics related to weaving were often held in the summer:

Hélène Moreau also gave us  a vegetable dyeing workshop outside her home; we were five or six people who attended this workshop.  Each had to bring its white wool as well as the plants that would permeate their chosen  colour  on the wool; e.g. tomato plant leaves, onion peels, birch barks, etc. Hélène had prepared the mordants to fix the color: alum, oxalic acid, copper, etc.

Some weavers also attended a  meeting in  Chambly, where they learned the technique of felting.

Alexandra Legault spun, knitted or wove the wool. Her speciality? She started with the sheep’s fleece and from there, proceeded   to do the cleaning, the carding, the spinning and the weaving. She not only used the fiber of sheeps but also that of dogs: poodle, samoyed, St. Bernard and others.

Members could work on projects, in the guild’s room or at home for many had their own loom. Over the years they have woven dish towels, tablecloths, rugs, clothing fabrics, wall hangings, scarves, etc.

In April of each year and to this day,, they present their work at an exhibition and sale in the large rooms of the Peter Yeomans Cultural Center, in Dorval.

After forty-five years, the Guilde des Tisserands de Dorval is still active. I would like to pay tribute to the weavers of today who developed and wove  the tartan of the city of Dorval, especially Mrs  Lise Beauchamp, the instigator of this great project. All my admiration!

TO YOU, WEAVER

If you can make a warp

Without losing the crossroads,

If you can put thread through the needles, one by one

And never skip one,

If you can pass the threads through the reed

Without forgetting a slot,

And take over a pattern, keeping a smile,

And never suffer

From an interruption or a whisper

Coming from  the  weaver next to you

If you can, as you start to weave

Find the threads you thought you tied,

Undo the work, yet happily find your place,

Having redoing everything ...

There, my friend,

You are really a weaver,

Your patience has no limit ………