I've just booked a flight to Scotland via London.  Any weaving must-sees for either place?

Thanks,

Monica

Comments

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 10:27

kerstinfroberg

If you are at all interested in ready-made fabrics, a trip to Glodhawk road in London is a must: 13 shops (in just a couple of blocks) with *all* kinds of fabric - from classic worsted suitings to fancy fashion via silks, velvets... (tube stations Goldhawk road, or 5 mins walk from Shepherd's bush). No yarn there, though.

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 13:40

mneligh

I'm thinking of going as a  spinner to see sheep -- probably next spring.  So, besides the usual classics too numerous to name, go to the Hebrides (St Kilda), the Isle of Man, the Orkney, Shetland, & Faroe Isles.  (I'll go on to Iceland by boat).  Those are the places with the primitive sheep.

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 14:30

[email protected]

Hi- I am new to weaving and I'm starting a project with 388 ends. is it ok to have 200 threads on one side of the center of the raddle and the other 188 on the other side? Or should I recount my threads so I have exactly 194 threads on each side?
Sun, 03/10/2013 - 18:27

Monica Bellas (not verified)

Mck.lrcq -- I was taught to spread the warp evenly, but I've not used a raddle before.  (I dress the loom front to back.)  Maybe someone in the know with back to front would have better information.

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 18:29

Monica Bellas (not verified)

Kerstinfroberg -- Thanks for the tip about fabric, but, alas, I won't have enough room for material.  I found a village in Scotland named Kilbarchan, where they still hand spin and weave, so we'll be visiting there.

Mon, 03/11/2013 - 09:07

kerstinfroberg

It was some 15 years since I was in Scotland, but then there were spinning and weaving mills "everywhere" - there used to be a leaflet called someting like "textile trail in Scotland" (not the correct title).

There is also craftscotland, which lists artisans in several crafts.

Mon, 03/11/2013 - 11:51

Erica

Handweavers is also incredible! You also may not have room for much in your bags coming back, but if you want a weaving momento of your trip, or just want to see their stock in person, I recommend it. I do believe Wendy ships to the US now. You can also find their website via their ad here on Weavolution when you get home!

You may also be interested in meeting Holly Berry. She got into weaving via the Master Crafts TV show. She has a studio and exhibits in London. You should be able to contact her via her blog.

If I think of anything else I'll let you know!

 

Mon, 03/11/2013 - 15:44

Bonnie Inouye (not verified)

There are some amazing, ancient textiles in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Visit a tourist-oriented weaving mill on the Royal Mile near the castle in Edinburgh. Tartans, old looms and other textile equipment.

http://www.openstudiosnetwork.co.uk/calendar.htm

http://www.craftscotland.org/

Before my trip to Scotland in 2005) I found lots of interesting places by searching online: "Textiles" or "handweaving" with "Scotland" and/or the name of the city or town you plan to visit.

Thu, 03/14/2013 - 20:37

Erica

Those sites look really interesting, I'll have to bookmark them to use before our next visit to Scotland.

I totally forgot about the weaving mill on the Royal Mile as well!

Sat, 03/16/2013 - 23:27

Monica Bellas (not verified)

Thanks for all the tips!  I had tried googling weaving and Scotland, but the majority of the sites were for stores selling tartans and such, while I would love to visit those still using hand operated looms (not industrial places).  I will definitely do some more research with the above-listed sites.

Sun, 03/17/2013 - 00:04

crofter

hi on the isle of lewis hand looms are still used to make harris tweed

there has been a act of parlment to keep the looms in the home as a cottage industry

please send me a pm as i can sugest places to visit where weaving is still woven at home

thanks

 

crofter

 

 

Sun, 03/17/2013 - 00:23

sally orgren

Cally is a member of Complex Weavers. She's a fun person and a great weaver!

http://callybooker.co.uk/

Mon, 03/18/2013 - 02:10

Monica Bellas (not verified)

Thanks, Crofter -- I've sent you a message.

Sally -- I've just had a peek at her website and it looks fabulous, not to mention all of the artists housed in the Meadow Mill.  Now I just have to see if we're going to be anywhere close to Dundee during our travels!

Mon, 03/18/2013 - 21:51

Cally (not verified)

Hi Monica

I keep a little list of Scottish textile places as people often ask what they should visit! It is very subjective, but these are some that I like.

Kilbarchan (near Paisley) you have already discovered – there's an 18th century weaver’s cottage with a dye garden – they have a weaver-in-residence who is usually weaving tartans on a fantastic old loom, and they have a huge library of tartan samples as well. Kilbarchan was a centre for “plain weaving” as opposed to the fancier cloth woven up the road in Paisley! http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/Weavers-Cottage/

Paisley – the city museum has a gallery of paisley shawls and lots about the development of the industry; they also have a Jacquard loom and I believe they do demonstrations but have not seen it in action myself http://www.museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk/member/paisley-museum-and-art-galleries

Also in Paisley are the Sma’Shot cottages which include a weaver’s cottage – note that their opening hours are quite limited though http://www.smashot.co.uk/index.php

West Kilbride – a teeny town on the west coast, it has recently launched itself as “Craft Town Scotland” http://www.westkilbride.org.uk/. There are weavers and spinners there and a lovely craft centre (The Barony). Incidentally, if you like mono-themed towns, then there’s also Wigtown (right down in the SW corner) which has branded itself as “Wigtown Booktown” http://www.wigtown-booktown.co.uk and they have their annual festival in September.

Glasgow has lots of art galleries and craft events - see http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk for some examples. For contemporary design – focused on architecture but including textiles – I’d recommend the Lighthouse, about ten minutes’ walk from Queen Street railway station. They have a permanent exhibition about Charles Rennie Mackintosh and some very interesting temporary exhibits http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Visitors/TheLighthouse/.

In Dundee the weaving was even plainer than in Kilbarchan, and the museum of the jute industry is Verdant Works http://www.rrsdiscovery.com/index.php?pageID=63. It is basically a reconstructed mill with the whole process laid out, and is very engagingly done. Your ticket also gets you into the Discovery, which is nothing to do with textiles but a very good museum of polar exploration with a distinctly Dundonian take on the exploits of Captain Scott http://www.rrsdiscovery.com/index.php?pageID=129. The contemporary art gallery here is the DCA http://www.dca.org.uk/) - come back in a couple of years’ time and you’ll be able to visit the V & A’s design museum out on the Tay http://vandaatdundee.com/your-future/.

Another mill complex has been restored at Stanley Mills near Perth http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/propertyresults/propertyoverview.htm?PropID=PL_273&PropName=Stanley%20Mills. It’s a lovely site but the museum focuses more on the engineering of the water (which is amazing) than on the textile processes.

Montrose – up the coast from Dundee and a completely different world. The House of Dun http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/House-Of-Dun-Montrose-Basin-Nature-Reserve/About/ is a small scale stately home with a lovely walled garden. It’s a treat in itself, but the bonus feature is that one of the outbuildings is home to Ian Dale, aka Angus Handloom Weavers. He is an extraordinary man and weaves extraordinary cloth in this tiny little studio – castles and stately homes around the world commission reproduction fabrics for their bed-hangings and upholstery from him.

Edinburgh – not so much of the textile heritage stuff here, but great for contemporary tapestry, thanks to the Dovecot Studios http://www.dovecotstudios.com/index.aspx. They have exhibitions in the gallery area but you can also see the weavers working if you go and peer over their balcony on the first Tuesday of the month. I’m not sure whether you can make appointments for other times. Another place to enjoy contemporary textiles is at Concrete Wardrobe (http://www.concretewardrobe.com/). It’s a shop co-owned by two textile designers, one of whom is a weaver, James Donald (facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/PickOne/123579517711853). They stock textiles, jewellery etc by Scottish-based or Scottish-trained designer-makers.

New Lanark – back to the heritage here http://www.newlanark.org/. I’m ashamed to say that I have never visited New Lanark, but there is a lot there if you are interested in textile-related social engineering projects.

Everywhere – there are now lots of open studios events going on all around Scotland, and at all times of year. As others have mentioned, a really good resource for exhibitions and events is craftscotland http://www.craftscotland.org/.

Cally