
Happy Blue Year!
We’re delighted to be involved with the Moving Blue project, which sees the colour with a Coventry history going back hundreds of years revived ahead of the City of Culture year.
The project kicked off on New Year’s Day and will run throughout this year.
Our trustee Sara Maycock is an experienced dyer and weaver and was able to contribute her knowledge to the project, as well as some pieces of woad-dyed wool!
At The Weaver’s House we have long been fascinated by the history of the famous colour Coventry Blue. Sara explained: “We’re thrilled to be involved with this project as the subject of ‘Coventry Blue’ is very close to our hearts. In medieval times, when The Weaver’s House was built, Coventry was a centre for the weaving trade, when the city was best known for its fine Coventry Blue cloth.
“We grow the woad plant in the garden, and although the plant is green and related to cabbages, it produces a fantastic range of blues. We have experimented with this natural dyestuff to see what shades of blue it produces, so we have an idea what Coventry Blue might have been like.
- The dye pot
- Freshly dyed wool
- The weaving on the loom
- Weaving in progress
“We’ll never truly know what the medieval Coventry Blue looked like as the recipe was a closely guarded secret, but it’s wonderful to see the colour being revived as we head towards 2021.
“Blue is a thread that runs through Coventry’s history for hundreds of years and we’re excited that Moving Blue will be a connection to the weavers of old as well as looking to the future of the city.”
During our tenth anniversary year the Weavers’ Workshop created weaving inspired by Coventry Blue. If you would like to see more of this previous experimentation with natural woad dye and weaving, you can read more here.
During 2020 a different item will be painted in Moving Blue every day. You can read the full details on the 2021 website.