Do you know someone who hates flying only because they may have to speak to a stranger sitting next to them? I know people like that and, I admit, sometimes I’m one of them. I often can’t wait to put on my headphones to tune out the small talk and turn up the music. But sometimes you meet someone while travelling that you just have to keep in touch with. That’s what happened to me and that’s how I met Wendy the Weaver!
I was sitting in the airport here in Thunder Bay waiting for a flight to Toronto. A woman was sitting near me wearing a lovely scarf. We started chatting. It turned out that Wendy Moses had just moved to Kakabeka Falls and was on her way back to visit her 90+ year-old mom in southern Ontario.
Our flight was delayed, so we just kept talking. I found out that she had been the owner of an art gallery in the Muskoka area north of Toronto but had moved to Kakabeka Falls to be closer to her daughter and granddaughter. She’d always been an artist. Encouraged by her daughter, she ventured to the Rural 60 Plus Centre to check out the weaving opportunities. There is a room in the Centre with a number of donated looms.
So, not only were the furnishings encouraging for Wendy, so was the camaraderie.
That day at the airport, Wendy told me she was working on weaving a coat.
“I believe if you dream it, you can make it happen”, she said. Surrounded by mentors at the Centre, and cheered on by Tina Guzzell, her weaving instructor, she set out to create a piece of wearable art. The weaving was a labour of love and took six months to complete.
Even a pattern “mistake” turned out to be one of the most eye-catching parts of the fabric. “A mistake can become a thing of beauty,” Wendy remarks.
Wendy had made wall hangings and rugs before. Having to cut the coat from fabric she had taken months to weave presented yet another bridge to cross. And a scary one at that! What if she cut it too small – or too big? When we had first met she was at the stage of getting ready to sew it. And she was scared.
I shared the name of a person I knew who was a wonderful seamstress, but Wendy, cheered on by her mentor, Tina, knew, that if the coat was to be “completely mine”, she’d have to sew it herself. There was no pattern to go by so she had to decide what would work as a collar, for instance. The sleeves were too thick for a lining so the sleeves remained unlined. She needed buttons for the coat. With a trip to Sleeping Giant Antiques, and help from Marcia, the co-owner, she had a fabulous collection of non-matching buttons.
Although Wendy’s coat will only be worn by one person, she says “it took a village of weavers” to make it. Wendy recognizes all the encouragement, great advice, support and interest, the sewing room and Tina’s driving force to guide her to cut and sew this creation after she wove the material.
Wendy speaks about life coming full circle. A weaver when she left high school, she specialized in abstract pieces. Life took her along a different path and weaving was put aside. It took a move across the province to Kakabeka Falls, the support of a weaving community and Rural 60 Plus to help her rediscover a beautiful craft. “Weaving has taught me patience,” Wendy says. Based on my admiration of this piece of wearable art, Wendy has not only patience but great talent. She is looking forward to creating more unique pieces for herself and family.
Author Anita Moorjani once said that, “In the tapestry of life, we’re all connected. Each one of us is a gift to those around us helping each other be who we are, weaving a perfect picture together.” Perhaps if you ever happen to meet someone in an airport, checkout line or waiting room, you just may discover this to be true, just like I did!
