From idea to wool to thread to fabric
After two years of teaching myself everything I could about the production of fabric I decided there was only one way to find out what I still didn’t know. I had to create my own fabric from scratch and go through all the different stages.
There are roughly 18 specific steps that each require years of training to master to produce a high quality fabric. With the help of the brilliant minds of Phil from Two Rivers Mill and Rowenna and team from Bristol Weaving Mill I was able to create my first fabric, starting from an idea to completed product in less than a year. A year that was also plagued by a pandemic and worldwide lockdowns which meant that a lot of the communication had to be online only.
Invisible Breaks With Tradition
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Know The Rules
The design is intentionally looking conservative. In reality it is actually breaking and combining traditional patterns. Both the Chevron- and Herringbone-patterns are based on a basic twill weave that got invented thousands of years ago. On top of that I added another classic, a check pattern.
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Break The Rules
Instead of choosing either Chevrons or Herringbone as a base for the weave I decided instead to fuse them together to create a new style. In the end this is a very subtle modification that adds just a bit of movement to a classic design and visually divides the fabric into 5cm wide columns.
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Live Playfully
Instead of dying the wool to achieve the colours I instead decided to blend them with a small amount of already dyed silk fibers. This this choice reduced the complexity of the project and adds a subtle touch of class. The pink yarn is mixing red and blue silk to keep the colours harmonious.
