Britain has a long history of industry and while modern technology has largely dissolved many smaller companies, there has been a recent resurgence in the use of hands-on manufacturing techniques. In our Made in Britain series, we celebrate the best of British craftsmanship and skills.
Daniel Harris of the London Cloth Co is a completely self-taught weaver. He had never even seen a shuttle loom before he bought his first eight years ago – a rusting, Victorian relic that he rescued from a derelict barn in Wales.
Slowly acquiring more and more looms, he had to learn by trial and error how his collection of 'unwieldy beasts' work – each an amalgam of at least two machines that he had to carefully disassemble, assemble, replace components and then crank back into life.
From his micro mills based in London and Worcestershire he now produces a range of bespoke upholstery and furnishing fabrics – from rope-dyed plain, herringbone and twill indigo cottons, to multi-hued woollen heritage tweeds, tartans and blankets.
Here Daniel explains the traditional skill of loom weaving.
While Daniel is keen to stress that his oeuvre is not a craft – 'these machines were at the forefront of the industrial revolution; in their day they were seen as killing craft,' – there is no denying there is the same crafting ethos in how this one-man mill operator has a hand in every single stage of the weaving process.
This vintage Hutchinson Hollingworth Dobcross loom dates from 1904
It can take two days to set up the loom for weaving, requiring hundreds of kilos of yarn to be wound on to a warping mill and then transferred to the loom. 'But once weaving it can be really quick,' says Daniel of his machines that can weave between five to 20 metres of fabric an hour
Daniel making a pattern chain to feed into the loom
He uses a vintage Bobbio pattern card punch, one of the many items he has picked up from abandoned mills around the British Isles
Cushions made up in the London Cloth Co herringbone, tweed and plain indigo fabrics
Examples of Daniel's bespoke upholstery fabrics
To weave the fabrics, wooden shuttles containing bobbins of yarn for the weft threads, are fired back and forth, passing over and under the vertical warp threads that have been individually hand tied on to the loom, more than a hundred times a minute
Blankets made from British and Irish Donegal wool for Sutton and Tawney
Part weaver, part engineer, part textile designer, Daniel is a self-taught, one-man mill operator
Read more:
- See more about British craftsmanship in our Best of British section
- Be inspired by these quintessential British homes
- Choosing an English kitchen
