Skye Weavers is an independent textile and weaving mill in Glendale on the Isle of Skye. Since 2012 we have been weaving woollen textiles on bicycle pedal-powered looms, often using wool sourced from local Skye farmers and crofters. We weave a variety of products including scarves, blankets, throws and wraps. We also make tweed, which we sell as lengths and make up into garments, cushion covers, bags and accessories.
Our guiding principles are provenance and quality. Scotland has a proud history of textile-making, but sadly much of the industry has moved overseas. At Skye Weavers we’re passionate about producing high-quality textiles right here in Scotland. We believe in the importance of creating something locally, and we’re excited to share the process with our customers, offering them a glimpse into the craft of weaving and the care that goes into each piece.
All our products are woven on bicycle pedal-powered looms in a small weaving shed next to our old croft house on the Isle Skye. The sewing is done by us and other UK companies we work with. Wherever possible we buy materials and packaging from within the UK. We work with spinners in Scotland and Yorkshire, cloth finishers in the Scottish borders and label weavers in Wales.
We are particularly proud of our Skye Wool range, where we hand select fleeces from local farmers and have them spun into a yarn that is unique to us. It gives us great satisfaction to use this natural and local resource and to know exactly where our wool comes from.
Watch how we design and weave our woollen cloth, scarves, throws and more. Follow our footsteps across the hills of Skye to find inspiration for our designs. Join us in the workshop and see how we wind the warp threads onto a home-built warping mill and see how we weave our fabrics by pedal-power.
Skye Weavers Team
Our multi-talented team of dedicated cyclists, weavers, warpers, cone winders, designers, menders, seamstresses, pattern cutters, wordsmiths and fixing-everythingers consists of Roger, Andrea, Paul, Christine, Danielle and Helen.
History
Roger and Andrea met on the Isle of Mull, where they lived for more than seven years before moving up to Skye. Roger had been coming on holiday to Skye since the 1960s, but in 2012 he and Andrea moved to Glendale permanently and set up their weaving and sewing business in the old family croft house.
The inspiration for Skye Weavers came from living and working at Ardalanish, an organic farm and weaving mill on Mull. Roger worked as the farm manager there and Andrea was involved in designing and sewing clothes. Read our blog about the first ten years of Skye Weavers.
“In setting up our own business we were fortunate to have support from everyone at Ardalanish, especially master weaver Bob Ryan, who taught us all the weaving basics and helped build some vital equipment. He is an extremely knowledgeable weaver, who keeps us on track with his typical Yorkshire outspokenness.”
Thanks to www.withloveproject.co.uk for the gallery photo.
Have a look at our short video about our first ten years.