Gather Textiles is a weaving shop and studio located in Edmonton on Treaty 6 territory.Â
We are a team of career weavers, sewists, dyers, and menders that care about quality materials, building community, and the rich and diverse history of textile practices. We are dedicated to the preservation of weaving knowledge through research, thoughtful making and sharing of ideas.
Gather Textiles was founded in 2019
When weaver Kim McCollum and sewist Angela Kelly met at a weaving course. We started talking about the lack of information available for weavers to sew and brainstormed a couple of simple workshops that we could host together for the local weavers.
Those early workshops were the spark for what is now Gather Textiles. Since then we have dedicated to building a team and creating everything we wished existed for weavers: an excellent online course for new weavers, an artist residency, a series of quality patterns and kits in modern and classic designs, a warehouse full of quality weaving supplies, tools, and looms.
As featured on the WEAVE podcast, in Yarn-Thread-String by Uppercase Magazine, and Edify.
We stock quality weaving yarns, tools and looms.
We are certified dealers for Schacht, Leclerc and Louet. We source quality weaving-specific yarns that we have thoroughly tested in our studio. We have extensive knowledge of weaving tools and looms.
We have our own brand of blanket wool designed specifically for weavers. The wool is locally grown, spun and dyed and developed by members of our team.
We host workshops in our Edmonton studio
Building community is what keeps us excited about weaving. Each season we offer workshops in our studio where locals can use one of the 30+ looms in our space. Recently we have started offering some of our favourite workshops online, too.
We teach online
As soon as the pandemic hit, we knew we needed to find a different way to connect with new weavers. We created the online course we wish we had when we were learning.Â
We make handwoven garments
This is truly our bread and butter. We love teaming up to make garments together. It's a collaboration between the weavers and sewists on our team and its so fun to get everyone involved and collaborating.Â
Listen to us talk about the origins of Gather and weaving to sew on the Weave podcast HERE.
You'll never guess where we started.
Gather Textiles started in a butcher shop. Yep. Our early workshops came with a side of freshly made sausage. There was a cheap workshop space in a local butcher shop, and for the casual nature of our early projects it was just the thing. In 2021 we moved into our current studio space.
Our Team
Jamie Hurlburt
(they/them)
Jamie (right) is a handweaver and weaving instructor who only feels truly relaxed when sitting at a loom. At Gather they are the expert in rigid heddle looms: small, simple looms with lots of potential. They also teach four shaft weaving and writes content for the Gather blog, troubleshooting series, and online learning. They sell their weaving under the name Booj Wovens, as well as exploring sacred weaving and inter-faith textile projects. They are passionate about welcoming new weavers to the craft and about bringing weaving into community spaces.
Kim McCollum
(she/her)
Master Weaver Designation from Olds College 2022
Kim McCollum is the owner and co-founder of Gather Textiles. There are many strands to her weaving practice. As a workshop instructor, she has taught hundreds of new weavers how to create cloth and design woven pieces. She has travelled to Morocco, India, and across the United States and Canada to learn about and teach weaving. Kim is also a working visual artist who earned an MFA from the University of Alberta in 2020. Her paintings and textile art explore the intersection of craft traditions and contemporary art through the structure of the grid. As a designer, she leads Gather’s pattern development and creative direction. Kim is constantly on the lookout for ways to grow communities around craft.
Mila Zenith
(She/her)
Mila was born and raised in Edmonton, and she began her fibre craft journey with knitting and crochet. After having children, she was lead into the beautiful world of weaving through exposure to stunning handwoven baby wraps. Hand weaving quickly became her hobby of choice. Mila is now partway through the Olds Master Weaver program and continues to primarily enjoy weaving soft, wearable items such as scarves, shawls and wraps. You will catch her around the studio helping to keep things running smoothly!