handwoven

My grandmother gave me my first loom aged eight. She taught craft classes at London schools and colleges, including the Royal School of Needlework. She lived, with my grandfather, in a huge 5-storey house in south-east London. I remember the excitement I felt every time we visited; walking under the towering mulberry tree through to the back garden where the path was lined with glazed barley twist edging, down the narrowest of steps through the scullery with the lingering odour of over-boiled cabbage, to the parlour where the family would gather. No visit was complete without my grandmother and I venturing to the ‘junk room’ – a basement hoard of fabrics, yarns and equipment gathered over a lifetime and all too precious to let go until the occasion demanded. I loved my little rigid heddle loom, built by my grandfather in the shed at the bottom of the garden.

The fascination of loom weaving never left me. In my romantic notions, I would scrape a living as a Harris Tweed weaver sat peddling at my Hattersley loom; not to be. Then fate brought me to Arthur, Thaxted’s weaver. There was a 50-year age gap that disappeared with our shared passion that led to a strong friendship. Arthur gifted me one of his floor looms, a late 19th century Swedish model; with a promise from me to weave, enjoy and, when the time was right, pass both the machine and the passion on to the next generation. I keep my promises!

Having found the thing I love to weave above all others, thanks to Jason Collingwood, the loom is about to benefit from the addition of a shaft switching system so that I can weave rugs. And now an eight-shaft Ashford has been added to the collection for my study at Bradford College. This special and precious two years has given me the opportunity to understand colour, texture and structure in weaving and to explore my weaver’s voice. For me, there is nothing more wonderful than shelf upon shelf of yarn from which to gather a harmony of colour and texture as the starting point for my work. Inevitably, they evoke memories of people and places that provide the inspiration for my designs.