Harris Tweed is famous the world over. But did you know that Skye once had its own cottage-based weaving industry? An exhibition and events programme next week in Portnalong, near Talisker on Skye’s west coast, will tell its intriguing story. And as proud inheritors of this local tradition we’re thrilled to be involved.

‘Port-na-Skye’ – The New Harris Tweed?

Portnalong and its neighbouring townships of Fiskavaig and Fearnilea were created after World War I when the Board of Agriculture bought land to offer to people wanting to make a new life. Over 60 families moved there, most of them weavers from overcrowded townships on the Isles of Harris and Lewis. Small weaving sheds were provided on the crofts, and spinning, knitting and weaving became important sources of income for the settlers.

Port-na-Skye tweed, as it was known, was sold to passing trade and tourists who arrived by boat and later by motor car. Production methods became more sophisticated with the introduction of Hattersley Looms, and many different colours and patterns were made until the early 1970s. Although Port-na-Skye failed to enjoy the commercial success of Harris Tweed there remains a strong interest in spinning and weaving within the local community to this day.

From Lamb to Loom

 
 
Getting the fleece from lamb to loom was a time-consuming process for the Portnalong weavers. After shearing, the fleece would be scoured in the stream and dyed in large pans over the fire, using local plants and roots. It was then hand-carded to sort the fibres, spun into yarn on a spinning wheel and finally wound onto cones ready for weaving.

The cloth was woven on a large wooden floor loom or a smaller table-top loom, and taken by men to be washed in the stream. It was finished by the women, who sat around a large table where the soaked tweed was rhythmically thumped to shrink and soften the fabric. The finishing process, also known as ‘waulking’, was hard graft but also a great social occasion with lots of gossip and songs to keep the rhythm and lighten the work.

Living Tradition

While our singing is best avoided at Skye Weavers, we otherwise like to keep local traditions alive. Although our looms use a different mechanism to those used in Portnalong in the early 20th century, they are still powered manually, in our case by bicycle pedals. And while waulking is no longer the communal activity it was, our skilled finishers – Schofield in the Scottish Borders – are long established experts with an attention to quality that is second to none. (And we’re sure they enjoy a gossip in their spare time too.) You can follow our own tweed-making journey here.

We’re especially proud of our Skye Wool range using local fleeces. This year we have something extra special as part of the ‘Lamb to Loom’ exhibition programme: Sgioba Luaidh Inbhirchluaidh, the Inverclyde Waulking Group, will be singing waulking songs while finishing some of our Skye Wool tweed in the Minginish Village Hall. Come and watch them at work/waulk on Thursday 28 – Saturday 30 June, and join a Thursday afternoon workshop.

Ethical fashion is trending right now. Today, more and more of us are asking what impact our clothes have on people and on the planet. There’s a growing market for clothes with a conscience – whether that’s up-cycled, organic, natural or Fairtrade. ‘Buy less, care more’ is becoming the green fashionista’s mantra.

A driving force in this is Fashion Revolution – a global movement for ethical and sustainable fashion. Self-styled ‘pro-fashion protestors’, Fashion Revolution celebrate fashion as a positive influence while also scrutinising industry practices and raising awareness of pressing issues.

Today we’re joining them in marking the start of Fashion Revolution Week. The Week falls on the anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, which killed 1138 people and injured many more in 2013. All round the globe people will be asking brands #whomademyclothes and demanding greater transparency in the fashion supply chain.

Our ethical commitment

From a renewable raw material to pedal-powered production, at Skye Weavers we’ve always been committed to making our business as sustainable as possible.

We know #whomademyclothes – it’s us! From warping to sewing, we keep our production processes in-house as far as possible. This means that we know exactly who created each garment, throw, scarf or tweed. It also keeps weaving traditions alive and provides local employment and training. When we do work with partner manufacturers we select them carefully, for example working with social enterprise Kalopsia Collective on our bags and ties.

Keeping it local. We work with suppliers in Scotland, northern England and Wales. From wool mills and finishers to the people who weave our labels, we avoid large-scale faceless corporations even if it means we have to absorb higher manufacturing costs. We often visit these suppliers personally, building up a relationship and developing a satisfying creative partnership.

Wool, naturally. We use a sustainable raw material. Our woolly friends generously grow a new fleece for us each year, making it the ultimate renewable resource. What’s more, wool is biodegradable (not that we expect you to throw away your Skye Weavers garments of course). We even use natural dyes in some of our products, and source some of our wool from local farms on Skye.

Love not landfill. We create high quality products that you will cherish, not chuck away at the end of the season.

Pedal power. Who needs fossil fuels? Our looms are 100% pedal powered!

Go green with your home furnishings!

People have been snapping up our green diamond tweed so fast that unfortunately we’re out of stock. But don’t go green with envy – we’ve been pedalling fast so there’s more on its way. Your can pre-order a length of the tweed here, or sign up to our newsletter if you would like to receive an email when the cushions are available online.

Or if you can’t wait, why not check out our Skye Wool collection for something ultra-local with the minimum of wool miles!

Last year we ran a photo competition looking for inspiration for a new tweed – the Glendale Check. Glendale is a small village in the north west of Skye. It is where we are pedalling away on our bicycle pedal-powered loom to create tweed, scarves, throws and more.

After designing the tweed, trying out various options on the sample loom, sourcing the yarn, winding cones, warping and finally weaving, the new tweed is available in our online shop now!

We are using the tweed to make a new range of Glendale Check Cushions. Discover the story behind the cushion:

We recently wove our first tweed using wool from the Glendale Estate’s Cheviot sheep. Last year we bought the hogg wool (the first clip), which we sent off for scouring, carding and spinning. We were really pleased with the yarn and have just finished weaving our first roll of natural white herringbone tweed.

Andrea warping first Glendale tweed

We also sent some of the yarn to Shilasdair Yarns in Waternish, who dyed it naturally with various dye plants. We are currently in the process of finalising the design for a range of throws, and more tweed using these colours. Everything will be available this autumn.

The Glendale Estate was bought by the community at the beginning of the 20th century. Today the estate farm stocks sheep and cattle. We would like to take the opportunity to thank the estate committee and D.A. and Norman, who are looking after the sheep, for helping to get the first Glendale wool processed. We are already looking forward to working with them again this year!

Many people are surprised about the fact that the wool of the many sheep on Skye is normally not used on the island. In the past wool was washed, carded, spun and woven for home use and small scale trade at many crofts. With the industrialisation and economic change this is no longer a viable business opportunity. Wool is now processed by large scouring plants and spinning mills on the mainland or overseas. The mills buy wool in big batches from the Wool Marketing Board. Most of the wool in the UK (and on Skye) is bought by the Wool Marketing Board, who is selling it on behalf of the farmers at international auctions. Skye wool gets mixed up with wool from elsewhere. This is why we are so happy to be working with 100% Skye wool now.

Roger mending Glendale tweed

Before we moved to Skye, we lived and worked at Ardalanish, a remarkable farm and weaving mill on the Isle of Mull. The Ardalanish Mill was one of the pioneers in getting wool from their own sheep spun and we were truly inspired by the process of turning a home grown sheeps’ fleeces into a finished products. After we set up our own business on Skye, we wanted to continue in that ethos and have now managed to use our first batch of local wool.

Skye Weavers team:  excited to be working with locally sourced wool.

It is great to see other businesses popping up everywhere, who are using local resources. A very inspiring business on Skye, who is using home grown brown wool for their beautiful knitting, is Island at the Edge in Edinbane. And there are quite a few more textile places on Skye, so come and weave your way around the island to discover it all!

Do you know who made your clothes? Since the Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh this question has entered public discussion. How can it be that our clothes are so cheap? An increasing number of retailers are trying to source garments sewn by workers who are paid properly and work under safe conditions, but in the end it is us, the consumers, who make it happen. If there is a demand for ethical fashion, there will be somebody to fulfil it.

Ethical fashion starts with transparency of the supply chain. So check your label before buying, and ask “Who made my clothes?” For more information on ethical fashion, manufacturing and sustainable production visit Fashion Revolution. You can help create a more sustainable future for the clothing industry!

Our ties are of course far from essential in terms of clothing, but we are still proud to have them made in this country! The yarn was spun in the North of England, the tweed woven by us on the Isle of Skye, and the sewing done by a social enterprise in Edinburgh. Have a look at production from yarn to tie here!

Kalopsia is a social enterprise specialising in micro-manufacturing of textile products in Leith, Edinburgh. We met them at the opening night of their Assemble Range, where they introduced a range of tried and tested products they make up to order in any fabric. Their vision with Assemble is to create a more efficient textiles production service, help reduce waste, get accurate fabric estimations as well a quick turn around time and reduced carbon emission.

Our ties are part of that range. The pattern has been adjusted to work perfectly with our tweeds and they are sewn to last a long time. We’re proud to introduce our new collection! Made in Scotland.

Many thanks to Susan Castillo for her excellent photography!

When it comes to buying a gift for a newborn baby, nothing could be more perfect than a soft and warm lambswool blanket, which can be passed on from generation to generation, yet still look as beautiful as the day it was brought home. We want babies to feel safe, treasured, warm and protected while they are snugly wrapped up in their natural woollen blanket.

Our brand new range of baby blankets are woven from 100% lambswool and brushed carefully with teasel heads, ensuring the softest possible finish against your baby’s delicate skin. Perfect for keeping your baby warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Research reported in the medical journal The Lancet has also found that it has a soothing effect that can result in better sleep and improved weight gain.

But not only are these blankets a fabulous practical choice for your baby, they will also look beautiful in your home. Coming in three lovely designs, each one inspired by a different feature of Skye’s stunning coastline, there is the perfect blanket for every family.

For those looking for a neutral option for a surprise arrival, our Coral Beach design is a fantastic choice. Inspired by the sands, corals, coloured shells and fragments of dried bladderwrack seaweed, the colours of this blanket range from pure to creamy white and oatmeal, but also include specks of mussel blue, stone grey and the dark brown. This natural coloured blanket is perfect for baby boys and girls alike, and would look stunning in any pram or nursery whatever the current colour scheme.

If you want your little one to be assured of sweet dreams, why not rock them to sleep wrapped in our Sea Ripples Baby Blanket. It was inspired by the rippled surface of the sea on a blue sky day on the Isle of Skye. The design is made up from three soft shades of blue in a wavy, undulating weave. It’s a blanket so beautiful that it will undoubtedly transcend babyhood, and be a treasured item for many years to come, perfect for snuggling under on cold winter’s nights and for lying on top of to play games on even the hottest summer days.

Perhaps you are looking for purple and pink tones, in which case our Purple Topshell Baby Blanket is your best choice. Inspired by the spiral ridges of pink and purple sea shells (Purple Topshell, Gibbula umbilicalis) commonly found on Skye’s rocky shores, this gorgeous blanket with its mix of pink, purple and creamy white colours would look stunning in any little girl’s nursery. Perfect for those first photographs or for swaddling your baby on the way home from hospital, this is a blanket which will make your baby feel secure during those precious early days.

Whichever blanket you choose, you are buying a totally natural and soft product with all the great attributes of wool. And with the help of Eucalan, washing your lovely blanket and keeping it in pristine condition could not be easier. Why not give it a try today and watch how beautifully your baby sleeps within it.

Show us the colours of Glendale!

Take a picture to make a tweed

The Glenurquhart Check is one of the world’s most famous tweeds. Designed in the mid-19th century it now comes in a huge variety of related patterns, known as Glen Checks.

This October – to mark Wool Week, a celebration of all things woollen – we will design our special variation of this pattern, the Glendale Check.

But before we can start designing, we need your help.

We’re looking for your view of Glendale and its colours. Where are your favourite places in the glen? What are the distinctive colours of Glendale? Get your camera ready and show us.

Send us your pictures by the end of September 2016. We’ll compile a shortlist of our favourites. Voting for the winning picture starts at the beginning of Wool Week (10th October).

Win four Glendale Check cushions!

We’ll use the winning picture as inspiration for our Glendale Check tweed design. If your picture was chosen, you’ll receive a gift of four exclusive Glendale Check cushions.

Send your pictures to info@skyeweavers.co.uk

We look forward to seeing your views of Glendale!

Follow progress on Facebook and Twitter using #GlendaleCheck

… a few months later

Here’s our winner! We’re really looking forward to designing this tweed!

We love lichens! They are tiny organisms in a multitude of shapes and colours. Most of them like to grow where the air is pure, so we are spoiled with a great abundance of growth forms on Skye. Four of them have inspired our latest range of woollen wraps, woven from soft lambswool.

Lichens are composed of two organisms, algea and fungi, which form a stable symbiotic association. Some of them are very slow-growing and commercial harvest is no longer allowed. In the past lichens were collected to dye wool for the weaving of tweed, especially Harris Tweed. The most famous of these lichens is crottle, which was boiled together with the wool and gave a reddish-brown colour.

Another group of lichens was used to make purple ‘orchil’ dyes. To achieve the purple colour the lichens had to be fermented in urine to start with. Even though the dye had a very small light-fastness, it was highly valued as purple was one of the more difficult colours to achieve naturally.

We didn’t use lichens to dye our woollen wraps, but we looked at them for inspiration. We chose a two-sided weave design with a soft grey on one side and the lichen colour in a wavy pattern on the other. We wanted to reflect the connection between rock, a favourite lichen habitat, and the living organism.

Skye artists and makers collaborate on new collection
A story of four creatives, three shells, and one Hebridean island …

The Isle of Skye is known for its abundance of professional artists and craft-makers. The island’s dramatic coast, stunning landscapes, rich flora and fauna and ever-changing light provide inspiration for both home-grown talent and the many creatives who have moved here to live and work.

Now four of the island’s makers and artists have come together in a unique collaboration. Their collection of naturally dyed shawls, specially designed brooches and original photographs have all been inspired by one of Skye’s smallest inhabitants – the periwinkle.

You can buy shawls and brooches online by following the links below, or at the makers’ studios. The photographic prints are available at Phil Gorton’s Studio in Roag, Skye.

Mounted photographic prints, variety of sizes & prices. Available at Phil Gorton’s studio in Roag on the Isle of Skye.
These two photographs by Phil Gorton inspired the design of the Periwinkle Shawls & Brooches. The first image shows the periwinkle shells on the dark, seemingly blue rippled sands of Bharcasaig, one of Skye’s stunning beaches. The second image focuses on the same type of shell lying on the deep red, speckled sandstone, which can be found at the Ard Roag peninsula on Skye. 

Red & Blue Periwinkle Shawls, £125. www.skyeweavers.co.uk/blue-periwinkle-shawl
The luxuriously soft ‘Periwinkle Shawls’ come in two colourways. The periwinkles on the rippled blue sand of Bharcasaig find expression in a softly undulating Indigo blue weaving pattern with striking yellow stripes along one edge. The speckled red sandstone appears as a mottled mixture of deep red and specks of Blackberry purple and white.

Periwinkle Brooches, £45. www.heather-mcdermott.squarespace.com/collaboration-products/buoy-brooches
These are Heather’s limited edition brooches using specially chosen colours to go with the woven shawls. Using a periwinkle yellow, midnight blue and sandstone red the pieces perfectly complement the two different shawls. The brooches can be worn with the shawls or as standalone pieces. Made from stainless steel, each brooch is hand finished and distressed, inspired by weathered objects found on the coast lines of Skye.

Check out our Periwinkle Pinterest board for more images of the collaboration!

Have you ever been to the Isle of Skye? It’s rugged and irregular coastline with small beaches and gigantic cliffs are a constant source of inspiration to us.

This blog tells the story of two sets of three yellow sea shells, common flat periwinkles to be more precise. They are the starting point of a very exciting collaboration between four artists and makers working on the Isle of Skye. Their collection of naturally dyed shawls, specially designed brooches and original photographs have all been inspired by one of Skye’s smallest inhabitants – the periwinkle. 

Phil Gorton is a fine art photographer who enjoys exploring the small and beautiful things on the Isle of Skye and other wild places. With his unusual perspectives and close-up photography he manages to capture colourful moments, intriguing shapes and dramatic light effects even on the most grey and monotone days.

Skye Weavers are weaving on a bicycle pedal-powered loom in the north of Skye, on the way to Neist Point. We are always trying to reflect Skye’s landscape in our weaving. Our special interest relates to what Phil is doing in his photography- we love looking at things in close-up!

Tony and Eva Lambert dyed the lambswool yarn for our shawls using a variety of plant dyes. Their recipes have been developed over many decades and Eva explains what is special about natural dyes: “If you magnify a chemical dye, you’ll only see one colour. If you magnify a natural dye, you will see that it is made up of a multitude of colours, which is what gives it its depth.”

Heather McDermott joined in the latter stages of development. She chose three special colours to apply to her Buoy Brooches that will accompany the shawls. Like Phil and us, she uses her surroundings, especially the shoreline of Skye, to inform her jewellery. The repeated shapes and geometric forms in her jewellery are a statement as well as a reflection of shapes and forms found along the shoreline. 

SHELLS TO SHAWLS – The finished shawls and brooches as well as copies of Phil Gorton’s photographs will be available to buy in our online shop and on Heather’s website in May. Until then we will be using a Pinterest board to log the development of the collaboration. Images of our workshops, places of inspiration and the processes involved in creating the finished pieces will be released each week. Visit the board here: Periwinkle Shells.

Our limited edition Periwinkle Shawls & Brooches will be launched in May. Sign up to our newsletter if you want to be first to know when these special pieces will be available to buy!

Trail the shells and watch the makers! Follow and share the story of the three yellow periwinkles on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter! #skyemakers