After a chilly and wet spring it was fantastic to see the garden at The Weaver’s House bathed in sunshine for the May Open Day. The old phrase “Cast ne’er a clout ’til May is out” is generally interpreted as advice to keep warm clothes on until May is over*, but winter clouts had certainly been discarded (for now) as visitors enjoyed the calm of the garden on a glorious day.
It was a busy day with a steady stream of visitors, including a fair number of people on their second (or third!) visit.
“Always great. Always something new” “Well worth the visit again” “Lovely walk through history. Volunteers doing a great job”
Thanks to everyone who visited and all our volunteers. Our next Open Day is Saturday 8th June.
*For more suggestions on the origin and use of this phrase, visit PhraseFinder.
Usually at this point we would be recapping a full year of Open Days and other events at The Weaver’s House.
The year started well with the announcement of ‘Moving Blue’ the City of Culture colour based on the famous ‘Coventry Blue.’ The Weaver’s House team were involved in the research process for the development of the colour and were excited to see the results come to life across the city.
Moving Blue on The Weaver’s House
With a #CelebrateNationalLottery25 funded community garden day kicking off activities in March, and the loom rewarped, all looked set for a memorable year of events.
As we know, 2020 would be memorable for very different reasons.
Throughout this challenging year The Weaver’s House and Weavers’ Workshop provided online resources for seasonal craft projects and reading including:
An interesting detail on a famous Coventry building, but do you recognise it?
Lockdown Rainbow
Touching the past
A sample of this year’s posts
We also carried out some essential site maintenance whilst we remained closed this year, we made costumes and revised our Family History book, amongst other things. So work has continued behind the scenes.
We hope to welcome visitors again soon, and will post our plans for 2021 in the New Year. And speaking of the New Year, perhaps it is time to revive the tradition of wassailing? Wassail comes from the Old English was hál, literally: be hale/healthy).
Traditionally it is a beverage of hot mulled cider, drunk as an integral part of the English Medieval Christmastide rituals, to bring a good apple harvest in the coming year. Perhaps some New Year wassailing will bring everyone better fortunes in 2021.
Wishing you a healthy and happy Christmas from all at The Weaver’s House.
Christmas elves made from corks, Tunisian crochet hats, with kumihimo braiding scarves
There’s no doubt that Christmas is going to be a little different this year. With a lockdown once again in place, we are looking to crafty ways to stay occupied and even make some Christmas presents.
Here are some of the creations by Weavers’ Workshop member, Anne-Marie, decorations and gifts, all home-made.
A pair of cheerfully coloured rugs made of recycled materials:
A bathroom rug woven on a rigid heddle loom using ribbon as a warp and old linen strips for the weft
Twined rag rug made of old linen fabric strips on a weaving frame
The ‘warp’ is the long pieces of yarn or other textile which is held in place on a loom or a frame. In the above left example, ribbon has been used.
Making the twined rag rug from old linen fabric strips on a weaving frame.
A waistcoat woven on a four shaft loom using Scottish Tweed wool.
The finished waistcoat.
Looms and frames can vary in size from small handheld frames to huge industrial looms, but the principle is the same. You don’t need a loom or a frame to weave, simple weaving sticks or backstrap are other traditional methods. Find out how we set up our large replica medieval loom here.
A round woven cushion cover done on a round pin loom
The cushion cover is made with home spun & dyed merino wool
Amish style rag rug, made from old linen strips, a weaving needle and blanket stitch. This style is also called a toothbrush rugThese festive little elves have been made from repurposed corks. Their hats are made from Tunisian crochet which blends techniques from knitting and crochet. Their scarves are kumihino, a traditional Japanese braiding craft.
Have you taken up or revived any textile crafts this year? We’d love to see your creations on our social media pages.
Huge thanks to Anne-Marie for sharing her beautiful creations.
