All those Nettles and Gold

Just incase you have all be wondering where I seem to be disappearing to…the images here really don’t do this 4.5m bundle of yarn justice.

The fibres of ten nettles stripped and prepared how our ancestors would have done thousands of years ago, hand twisted into a 2ply yarn with a single strand of vintage gold Japanese thread woven through.

This is part of the research and development for my small collection of handmade women’s clothing I am designing for next winter, focusing on sustainable and ethical processes, what I like to call cottage couture. This particular yarn has been developed to be hand woven into fabric with locally sourced wool and after some experimenting this weekend I think it’s going to look wonderful.

There is such a great momentum at the moment in the north of England to nurture the regeneration of the textiles and garment production as a force for good in the communities which themselves once were the foundation of the global textile industry. ‘Homegrown, homespun’ bringing opportunities for local people to become skilled in all areas of the industry.

Such an exciting time led by @northwestenglandfibreshed@patrickgrantism@community_clothing@superslowway@thewilddyery amongst others

The @britishtextilebiennial starts in October if you are interested in textiles and would like to learn more about the project, visit their website to see what they have going on.