Let's Talk About..... My Favourite Fabrics: Harris Tweed

Choosing my favourite fabrics from my expansive stash is hard to do, and I found that the ones I am drawn to the most I have an emotional attachments with, as either I have worn it or my children have.

HARRIS TWEED

I love Harris Tweed, and in the summer of 1981 I went on a road and ferry trip to the Outer Hebrides with my parents, and bought quite a quantity of Harris Tweed from the Isle of Harris.

I love how there are endless amounts of different coloured fibres in each woollen thread, blending together when woven. At the time of our visit there were lots of small scale weavers with weaving sheds in their gardens, who were only too happy to show us round, and sell their wares for modest prices.

A lot of the islanders used semi-automatic cast iron handlooms made by Hattersley, that made a very satisfying clunking sound when in motion by the foot pedal, decades old.

With the fabric I bought home I made myself a suit, with a short pencil skirt and small boxy jacket, 2 more pencil skirts, and a coat. I also made my mother a suit with a skirt and jacket. I wore my coat for years until it no longer looked smart, so I cut it up and added it to the pile. 

I also bought from the weavers, unspun wool, with all their wonderful colours before they get blended together. I spun the unblended fleece on my Frank Herring spinning wheel, and used the yarn for knitting and textile wall art.

While we were on the Isle of Harris in July 1981, the Royal Wedding took place – as in Charles and Di – we were staying at a B and B and our hosts kindly let us watch the highlights on their TV, a small black and white set with a sketchy reception. We were also booked in to have an evening meal with them. To mark this momentous occasion we were served a meal that was completely white! Chicken, potatoes, and cauliflower. And for pudding we were given rice pudding, or it might have been semolina, with a few carefully placed mandarin segments from a tin, in the centre of the bowl. Quite unforgettable!!

Working with wool is incredibly satisfying, and fleece straight from the sheep has a wonderful smell. Tweed is a very forgiving fabric to make clothes with. You can bury stitches, hidden away; ease fabric into larger or smaller seams; press with plenty of steam, and give the seams a good bash with a wooden block to get the steam out. 

All very tactile, and good for the soul.