The Weaver's House

This photograph shows a panel which has been produced by the Weavers’ Workshop as part of eleven panels celebrating 1,000 years of Coventry’s history.  The entire work will be paraded in the city on September 9 this year, further details to be announced.

Peggy Finch, who is chair of the Weavers’ Workshop, kindly supplied the following info on how this fantastically detailed panel was created:

This piece of work demonstrates the process of weaving from fleece to this completed panel. It has been designed and executed by all of the members of the Weavers’ Workshop.

This is a short explanation of the methods and techniques used:

The fleece at the top of the panel is spun using a drop spindle, the yarn is then dyed using the woad plant (Isatis Tinctoria), which produces the natural colour “Coventry Blue” from the leaves.  The embroidery shows how the plant appears in the Weavers’ House garden.

The squares have been made by using a pin loom.

The  Weaver’s House depicted is an fine example of tapestry weaving.   This was created by Beryl van Wijgerden.  The gardens have been woven using weaving sticks and enhanced with blue stitches.    The paths were created by using a lucet weaving and braiding tool.  Crochet was the technique used to make the hens and twig weaving for the fence.

Assembly of the work was carefully sewn by Sara Maycock.

Weavers:
Margaret Annetts
Val Cowley
Jean Coleman
Peggy Finch
Marta Firkowska
Jenny Fisher
Ingrid Grana
Sandra Haig
Debbie Harrison
Mo Hatton
Sara Maycock
Melinda Paine
Andrea Reid
Marion Thompson
Beryl van Wijgerden
Mavis Ward
Susan Ward

Photo by Simon Finch.