Coorie Creative CIC Interview

Tell us a little bit about your work, and the latest project you are working on? 

Coorie Creative is a registered charity with a retail arm hosted in The Thistles Centre.  In the shop, we stock a range of yarns for knitting, crochet and weaving, fibre for sinning and tools for creative making ranging from a darning needle right the way up to a spinning wheel or a 32” table loom.  Customers can come and use equipment, ask for advice and try new skills. One of the recent popular projects was the temporary ‘rental’ of large scale equipment like looms to try at home before deciding to purchase.  We offer workshops in knitting, crochet, weaving and spinning which are incredibly popular – one of the latest of these is an opportunity to design and weave a tartan scarf which can connect to your own tartan connections or reflect personal interests, places and colours.  In recent months, a popular team-building workshop has been weaving a small textile meaningful for you which is then sewn together into a larger display piece.

How do you approach a new project, is there a long research phase, or do you just get stuck in? 

At Coorie Creative we have a clear set of ethics about researching ways we can promote using natural fibres and local businesses.  That means we can react to customers’ requests for top quality commercial yarn producers like Rowan, stocking knitters’ favourites in silk, alpaca and a range of wools.  We’ve taken time to explore and invest in supporting Scottish independent yarn dyers, promoting beautiful skeins of yarn from makers like AMOYarns, Buzzing Yarns and Bow Fiddle Yarns.  On top of this, we try to be as inclusive as possible, having budget friendly yarns from Drops starting at just over £1.  Customers know they are getting a great value product made from excellent quality fibres from cotton to Merino wool and alpaca. We also ask our loyal customers and people who attend our regular ‘knit and natter’ or ‘come and weave’ sessions what fibres, producers and tools they’d like to see at Coorie Creative – this had led to bringing in new makes of hooks and needles from Clover and Knit Pro, new Scottish dyers like Dystopic Fibre and Gamer Crafting, as well as kits and patterns from up-and-coming designers. We understand what our customers like and can respond quickly to bring in new inspiration, tools and materials.

Who would you love to collaborate with if you had the opportunity? 

What a challenge! We have the wonderful opportunity to already collaborate with other social enterprise and community-based organisations which share our values – from Transition Stirling to Bannockburn House.  From a textiles craft point of view, it would be fantastic to collaborate with a well-known designer for a pattern collection or book launch.

What is special about Stirlingshire, what made you choose to base yourself here? 

Stirling is such a great home for Coorie Creative because of its historical connection to wool and the weaving industry.  There were weavers’ and spinners’ guilds based here for hundreds of years – all supporting the creation of tartans, tweeds and hosiery – and there are records of textile manufacture in every part of the city, from Torbrex to Cambusbarron, Bannockburn and within the city walls next to the castle. We are also surrounded by beautiful fields (and sheep!) which inspire colours and textures for making in weaving, knitting crochet and spinning.  In the 21stcentury, Stirling is alive with creative industries, heritage and arts-based community organisations, which makes it an excellent location for collaboration and inspiration. The campaign for Stirling as City of Culture demonstrates this is exactly where we need to be.

Where’s your favourite place to go for inspiration in your local area? 

If you need ideas for a new pattern or textile, you can simply look out of our huge windows onto the Ochils – the colours are already reflected in some of our locally dyed yarns or blended fibres for spinning.  The city itself provides so much inspiration, knowing the history of textile mills in places like St Ninian’s, Baker Street and Spittal Street, the castle tapestries or the tartans manufactured by workers for the Wilson family of Bannockburn House.

Are you part of any community groups or activities that you’ve found really inspiring? 

Our community work at Coorie Creative is central to what we do and why we exist.  It was fantastic to finally reveal that this aspect of our work has been recognised by a £140K, three-year grant from National Lottery Scotland – our fourth funding from them but the biggest by far. Other funding sources, including Stirling Council, have enabled us to provide free weave, knit and crochet courses for people experiencing social isolation because of the pandemic or disability, those who have challenges because of trauma or loss, or those using craft to help make new connections after arriving in the area as refugees. There are lots of new projects in the pipeline, supporting new parents and people in the care system – look out for information via our newsletter.

The team will also be hosting an event as part of TartanFest later this year:

As an exciting part of TartanFest, we have just announced a wonderful event in collaboration with Bannockburn House – Bannockyarn!  Held on 6th and 7th of August, this yarn festival will host over 25 vendors specialising in Scottish wool and fibre with lots of extra events including house tours, spinning and weaving demonstrations, mini-workshop taster sessions and good food. The event will support the social and community work of Coorie Creative and Bannockburn House, celebrating Scottish makers and welcoming visitors from across the country.