A Trip to Filkins

Though I've known about it for a long time, I only just recently made a trip to the Cotswold Woolen Weavers  in Filkins, which is a tiny village about 25 minutes drive from me. CWW is a bit of an anomaly; it's a cluster of buildings comprised of retail shops, artist's workshops and a wool and weaving museum, with a nice little cafe thrown in for good measure. I visited CWW twice, and both times found it oddly empty, yet also unmistakably vibrant and alive. Wandering through the various rooms and buildings felt like I'd stumbled upon some well kept secret. In some of the buildings there were employees, but in many of the rooms I was on my own, occasionally crossing paths with other visitors. No one was ever overly solicitous or hawkish; I felt free to wander and explore everywhere, from the museum with its scattering of textile related bits (baskets of wooden loom bobbins, rams horns and raw, chocolate brown fleece, embroidery samplers and old fashioned looms,) to the rooms upstairs selling a huge selection of old timey games and quirky books. There were open shelves filled with leather bound, swatch filled books. I could peek inside of glassed in rooms that contained huge work tables with tweed swatches and industrial looms. Different bits of the store carried different things; in addition to all sorts of woolen and tweed clothing (jackets, waistcoats, skirts, socks-yawn), there were beautiful blankets, and an assortment of randomly curated, locally produced books and crafts (things made from pewter, things carved from wood, reproduction agricultural posters and spoons and buttons carved from sheep's horns). One shelf leading upstairs was lined with Pantone color chip coffee mugs, which is just the sort of unexpected non sequitur item you'll come across in between sections of the shops. At one end of the building there is a room selling large and very well priced end rolls of woven wool fabric. At another end of the complex of buildings is the sculpture workshop of the artist Simon Brittain, who also offers courses in stone carving and masonry.

CWW is a wonderful place, and really worth a visit if you find yourself in the Cotswolds and have even a marginal interest in wool or textiles. It was the riches from the wool trade that built many a church village in this part of the world. Take a trip to Filkins and soak up a touch of the history behind that period of English life. 

Plant Dyed Wool: Day 3-Weaving on the Brinkley Loom

 I wish I could tell you that I made this gorgeous wall hanging on my last day of Jane Meredith's plant dyed wool course. Alas, I did not. But I did spend most of that day learning how to weave using the Brinkley loom, on which this beauty was made. (Or perhaps it was in fact made on the peg loom, which I posted about earlier. I'll have to check with Jane on that.) I also had the opportunity to do some wet felting later on in the afternoon, photos of which are below.

 Here is the loom, warped up and ready to use. This one is a bit shorter than the ones Jane sells, and I managed to just about finish weaving an entire length. I stuck to blue and white wool for this project, because it's such an idiot proof color combination.

Though I kept my color palette very limited, I did experiment with different widths and textures of wool. In the photo above you can see some carded fleece I added, which gives a lovely texture to an otherwise very flat piece.

More blue. More white.

My next door loom mate Rachel very cleverly warped her loom in alternating blue and white yarn, so she was able to make a very awesome, advanced looking plaid.

After lunch I took a break from weaving to do some wet felting, which I'd only done once before many years ago. It was work! But I loved these beautiful earth tone merino wools and made a pretty wool bowl, pictured below on the left.

 That's me in the pink shirt. See? I like color.

And here is my very own Brinkley loom that I bought from Jane at the end of the course. Warped and ready to weave. With-what?! More brown and white wool. For Christmas this year, I'm going to be needing an alpaca or two. 

Plant Dyed Wool: Day 2, Peg Loom Weaving

On the second day of the plant dyed wool class I recently took, Jane Meredith taught us peg looming. I thought maybe all of those loom bands I'd been making with my kids all summer would give me a leg up on this craft, but weaving on a peg loom is actually easier than making a triple single rubber band bracelet. We had beautiful weather the last two days of the course; it was a proper Indian summer. Below is the view of the Wye river, which Jane's house overlooks. 

Peg looms are made from a simple strip of wood drilled with holes and pegged with dowels. It's incredible to think that such beautiful rugs, pillows, wall hangings, etc., can easily be made from such a basic tool. I loved this ragged Cotswold wool rug (below) that Jane showed us, and decided to make something using natural, undyed fleece straight from the sheep's back. 

The trickiest bit of weaving is warping up the loom, which wasn't all that hard to do. Below, my loom is warped and ready for weaving.

Jane demonstrates warping up.

I used a combination of brown, grey and white fleece. Most of the women around me (the course was inexplicable absent of any men) were using the colored wool we had dyed the day before. Because I worried I wind up with a tacky technicolor monstrosity if I started using colors, I decided to stick with the browns and whites.

Below, an example of the right way to use color. Each woman's weaving was so totally unique from anyone else's, it's a shame I didn't take more photos to illustrate the various possibilities.

Here is my finished weaving, which is about the size of a small bathmat. I still can't decide if I like it, but I loved making it!

By the way, if you ever find yourself looking for a place to stay near Hereford, may I enthusiastically recommend a lovely B & B called the Old Rectory in Byford. Audrey and Charles Mayson were lovely hosts, and my room was the perfect haven to return to in the evenings. 

My next and last post about this course will be about weaving on the Brinkley loom. I loved it so much a bought one from Jane, where it's currently in use on my dining room table.