My addiction to weaving began when I
was looking for inspiration for our already slightly overcrowded walls.
As my partner’s eyes rolled back at the prospect of yet another craft market, I
excitedly skipped up to the Crafty Fox market with a little bit of 'I shouldn't be
spending any money but I know I'm going to want to buy EVERYTHING'
adrenaline.
It was here, in and amongst all the
stalls of handmade delights, that I was greeted by a warm and wide smile from
Lucy of Peas & Needles and her small but perfectly formed
weaves. It turns out Lucy is an all round weave, ceramic put her hand to
anything extraordinaire and I quickly signed up to a workshop, where she would show I and other eager students, how to weave wonders.
A couple of weeks later, me and my
friend Katie, met on a bright sunny day at Look Mum No Hands and for one blissful afternoon learnt
a range of weaving techniques and lingo. I began by franticly photographing every
little stage, for fear of forgetting any vital information. However, by the time I'd threaded the loom,
learnt the warp from the weft and completed a few rows of the Soumac,I relaxed into a rhythm, only broken
by the very difficult decision of what lovely yarn I was going to use next! And that was it. Addiction to weaving had begun! I got straight on to Pinterest and spent hours getting drawn in by the
never ending thread of weaving possibilities. From wall hangings the size
of windows, to tiny weave pendent necklaces, to woven skirts and plant pots, it
seemed everyone was at it!
So if everyone was at it, then I
simply had no choice. I had to create a weaving project, not only because
I wanted to make more weaves myself (!) but as a teacher of 19 fierce and
fabulous textiles students, I knew they would love it too.
We began with small, handmade
cardboard looms and with the help of our wonderful DT department, graduated to larger wooden looms. We all started as beginners but with the help of each other, online tutorials, time to play and experiment, we all progressed into weavers, I think, the WI would be proud of! Maryanne Moodie's beautiful creations became the student’s main source of inspiration and a range of brightly coloured designs followed. Not only were my student's weaves a sign of
success but so too their consistent focus and enthusiasm. A couple even asked to take a loom home and another proudly sent a picture of hers to Moodie and was
quietly chuffed when she got a reply!
Creating, alongside my students, only
confirmed to me what is so great about weaving; it's accessible to everyone,
it's a challenge yet achievable and the repetitive nature of it, allows your
mind to wonder of to sort out other stuff in your life. You also get
something beautiful at the end of it that you can put on your wall or wrap up and feel smug when you show up to a friend’s birthday with a handmade
present!
With the end of term in sight and the summer holiday fast approaching, I started to dream about the sun,
clear blue seas and the many possibilities the luxury of a 6 week holiday can
offer. Scrolling through Instagram on the bus home, I saw Knit Wit had posted a lovely photo of a colourful tuk tuk, hashtagging; 'adventure, weaving,
dyeing, friendship, Guatemala'. Whhattt! My eyes lit up, excitement
filled my belly and I spent the next couple of hours researching everything
about what turned out to be, a week long weaving trip in Guatemala, aka, Sarah's dream holiday! Led
by Thread Caravan and the creative vision of its founder, Caitlin, I began to admire everything
about the fair trade conscious company. The website design is beautiful
and fresh, the promo. videos look like a dream and the ethical values and
efforts in contributing to the livelihoods of artisans in the countries the
trips take place are admirable.
Caitlin also turns out to be as
lovely and selfless as the ethos of Thread Caravan and after chatting over
several e-mails pointed me towards lots of other inspirational enterprises like
Maya Traditions, Uxibal and Luna Zorro.
So, while I hope that my next post
will detail my adventures in Guatemala and will feature next years cohort of
textiles students enjoying the process of weaving, I'll carry on weaving
wonders for my nearest and dearest, whether they like it or not!
