This year I wanted to source some locally made fabrics. In the U.K. the locally made fabric is wool.
It is especially relavent to me as I live in Yorkshire a place once famous for its woolen fabric. There used to be hundreds of mills churning out meters of the stuff but those days are long gone. Indeed you may be surprised to hear that there are any working mills left. I was. But my research revealed that Yorkshire cloth is still being made by a handful of mills. What they turn out now is a luxury product. If you thought organic fair-trade was expensive check out these prices. £ 50.00 a meter is the cheap end of the market and way out of my price range. BUT……
Jacks, a stall in Leeds Kirkgate Market, sell end of line remnants of Yorkshire made wooden fabric. For very reasonable amounts. Anything from £5.00 to £12.00 a meter.
Working Mills
Made in the U.K.
- Dugdale (only merchant still in the centre of Huddersfield) Owns Thomas Fisher and Duffin & Peace names
Huddersfield Fine Worsteds (Owned by US distributors HMS) Owns Minnis, John G Hardy, Hunt & Winterbotham
And the major merchants with operations in the UK are:
- Holland & Sherry (owned by the US Tom James group)
LBD Harrison’s (owned by the Dunsford family in Exeter) LBD bought Harrison’s a while ago, and also now owns the Lesser’s name and Porter & Harding
Smith’s (only English merchant based in London) Owns W Bill
Brook Taverner
Bateman & Ogden
Scabal
Dormeuil
And then there is the Woolsack Website
Ackroyd and Dawson Trade only all British wool “Ackroyd & Dawson has the distinct pleasure of welcoming you to the revival of a great tradition, to a revitalization of the legacy of the world’s finest woollen and worsted cloth — 100% British.”
Anta The tweed fabrics are 100% Wool, sourced from the British Isles and woven in Scotland
Bespoke Fabrics Although not listed on website they were selling wool cloth at an event, so contact them.
Dashing Tweeds Collection of 100% British wool tweed – original designs woven in UK. Also including the fine wool Romney collection
Harris Tweed (available in small quantities if required)
Harris Tweed Hebrides Along with supplying some of the World’s biggest brands, Harris Tweed Hebrides cloth is available direct from our mill to the individual.
Hebridean Woolhouse There are four tweeds in the Hebridean Woolhouse range; the ‘Hebridean’, the ‘Dunay’, the ‘Auchnahyle’ and the ‘Islay’. They are made purely from the natural undyed Hebridean wool with the addition of coloured Shetland wool to make the subtle pattern.
Laura’s Loom Online shop. Also small pieces of woven fabric which could be used for making into cushions. It is undyed Bluefaced Leicester wool which could be dyed, stitched into, quilted, etc. The price is £10 per piece, incl. p&p and is large enough to make one cushion.
London Cloth Company Our British Wool all comes from small flocks of sheep within the British Isles. We have been working with ecologist Heather Webb from Nude Ewe and shearer Michael Churchhouse to source wool from conservation flocks, which is then spun into yarn for us in Halifax. The resulting yarn is 100% natural, un-dyed British wool. We never dye it and rarely blend colours, so we design the cloth by breed of sheep. Despite this, there is a huge spectrum of shades to choose from. Store
Middle Campscott Farm Wool from the flock of Friesland/Dorsets is woven into cloth, in three different weights and weaves, suitable for curtains or soft furnishing.
Original Cumbrian Wool Upholstery fabric in different shades woven from undyed natural wool from Lakeland sheep
Shawbost Weavers Harris Tweed cloth
The Harris Tweed Authority – Find Tweed Information about Harris Tweed and links to suppliers
British Wool Felt
Olwen Veevers I have a felting machine which will produce sheets of felt up to 1200mm x 600mm. Fleece from Corriedale sheep is ideally suited for this purpose. I can supply these sheets to customers
More Fabric
on line suppliers
Local fabric shops.
Regenerated Fibres & fabrics a very basic introduction
Kinds Of fabric – my ongoing experiences with natural fabrics.