Joanne Yeadon: Woven Textile Designer
One example of new woven fabric ideas inspired by Klein cloths
“Weaving on the Hattersley Loom known affectionately as ‘Angus’, has been more challenging than I expected.”
Joanne Yeadon, Textile Designer reflects on her woven textile project inspired by Bernat Klein tweeds.
I have been visiting 'Woven in the Bone’ in Buckie weekly since June to familiarise myself with the yarn winding and weaving equipment. Sisters, Sam and Belinda, have been patiently training me to use the machinery in preparation for weaving my Bernat Klein inspired fabric. So to have experience with the machinery, a loom has been set aside for my sole use throughout the duration of this project.
Preparing the warp on the loom
Weaving on the loom
Cutting off the finished cloth from the loom
To give me the best chance of producing the fabrics, it has been imperative to spend time familiarising myself with the loom to understand the parameters and limitations before designing the fabrics.
To give effects similar to the Bernat Klein fabrics, colourful ‘fancy yarns’ that have interesting textures using knops and slubs, twists and fringes have been sourced from both Italy and Donegal Yarns in Ireland. The sampling process of handwoven swatches created on the handloom were an important part of testing whether they would weave smoothly on the Hattersley loom.
Klein inspired fabrics created by Joanne Yeadon
There was much to learn and remember from winding the pirns, oiling the correct parts the loom, as well as finding out how the mechanisms of the loom operate for the correct pedal rhythm, watching for faults and trying to understand how the shuttle boxes work.
“I now appreciate that a perfect cloth woven on a Hattersley Loom is nothing short of a miracle!”
Thank you to the William Grant Foundation and Sam Goates at ‘Woven in the Bone’, Scottish artisan weavers for supporting this project.
Joanne Yeadon is a Bernat Klein Foundation Trustee and Workshop Tutor.
