Lorelei Textile Design
Member | LORELEI TEXTILE DESIGN
Victoria, BC
Carly of Lorelei Textile Design breathes new life into old threads. Using second hand fibres and low water natural dye techniques she creates wearable, one of a kind works of art to adorn your body and your home. Always with sustainability in mind, she makes use of homegrown botanicals and local foliage to imprint time and place into cloth, informed by the ever changing seasons. Recently partnering with a few local florists, she now converts their greens waste into eco printed textiles to be stitched into an array of products. The trash to treasure ethos runs deep, and is the foundation of her business practice. Each piece is crafted meticulously, with care and intention. In her collection you can find naturally dyed treasures such as handmade clothing, rescued and restored clothing, housewares, and accessories.
bio
Hey howdy folks! I’m Carly, the one woman show behind Lorelei Textile Design. I was born and raised in Winnipeg and made the leap to BC in 2016 to pursue my fibre loving dreams. I attended the KSA Textiles Program in Nelson where I was enriched with a deeper knowledge and reverence for sustainable textiles production through natural dyeing and weaving.
I grew up in a household that regularly shopped at yard sales and thrift stores through necessity, and those early experiences shaped how I viewed and engaged with consumer culture. It is deeply ingrained in me to upcycle, shop secondhand, and reuse before buying new, so it only came naturally for me to instill that ethos into my textiles practice.
My Mom is an incredible seamstress who has always mended our family's clothing and made use of secondhand fibres. I spent many hours as a little human watching with curious eyes as she snipped and stitched. She would reserve a bag of scraps for my sister and I to experiment with right from an early age. She and my Aunty are/were avid gardeners, and because of them I have many core memories amongst the blossoms, berries, bees, and butterflies. When you grow up around women who love flowers, and vintage linens, and making something new from the old, it is a gift to the future you.
As I have blossomed as a textiles artist, those early influences are always near to my heart and mind. In case you can’t tell, I’m an incredibly sentimental person! A vintage linen can bring tears to my eyes without warning. Today, I get to work with second hand fibres and natural colour on the daily and I am so so grateful that I am able to share my passion with all of you.
bio continued
This practice is an essential part of me; endlessly fascinating, inspiring, and comforting. I can’t imagine living any other way; steeped in botanicals and soft, soft cloth, carrying on family practices started generations before I was born.
When I’m not puttering in the studio you can usually find me at home; stretched out in a sunbeam, cooking delicious food, cuddling my dear old cat, or out and about in Victoria teaching workshops on eco printing.
maker criteria
Natural Dyer, Eco Printer, Sewist, Weaver, Cook, Novice Gardener, Workshop Instructor
stockists
Sensori House
The Vend Collective
Victoria Market Collective
regular markets
Moss St Market
Bastion Square
Oaklands Sunset Market
Victoria Market Collective’s ‘Meet the Makers’ & ‘Summer Fling’
Local Folk Fair
