The Loom
Hatty my Hattersley loom. Originally brought to the island as a brand new flatpacked puzzle in (about) 1940 she has been worked by three generations for over 85 years. Crafted from cast iron and wood she has become a work of art in her own right. The divots on the arms as she has settled into position, the wear on the bar from years of weavers hands, the faded paint and oil deposits. All help make each Hattersley loom unique and give them their own personality. I purchased Hatty from a retired weaver who very kindly agreed to sell me the loom and teach me to weave!
Two Sister Weavers
My name is Miriam Hamilton and I learned to weave in the autumn of 2018, taught by the previous owner of Hatty, a gentleman crofter aged 90. He agreed to sell me Hatty and to teach me to weave, so I spent many hours in his tiny, freezing cold loom shed where he had woven for 50 years. He had inherited the loom from his father, who had bought her orignally from the Hattersley factory in Keighley, Yorkshire. I taught my sister Martha to weave in 2019 and now she does the weaving while I get on with the sewing!
The Shed
Traditional weaving sheds, like the one I learnt to weave in, were block or stone structures with no real 'comforts' like insulation, decent lighting, heating etc. I decided I wanted a 'posh' shed and so The Weaving Shed was created. Designed in two halves; one to have exactly the right amount of room for Hatty, the pirn winder, the warping frame and the bobbin stand and the other as a studio shop. The 'posh' shed has stunning views over the Loch, and plently of space and light to see the loom and all the weaving processes. The other half is my wee shop selling all my handcrafted creations.
Two Sisters Tweeds
Due to multiple issues with the finishing of our cloth it became financially unviable to weave Harris Tweed. Instead we are completely independent, weaving our handwoven cloth under the brand Two Sisters Tweeds. Our fabric is washed down in Galashiels which gives us far more scope and variety in our choice of yarns and colours.
We weave with pure blended wools, supersoft lambswool, shetland and luxury unusual yarns, including ones from my own sheep fleeces, alpaca-silk and undyed British breeds. You can find out more about our luxury tweeds HERE
A wee video showing some of the processes involved in creating the a tweed! To actually make a tweed from start to finish takes several weeks. We have to make the warp, beam it onto the loom, tie each new thread to the corresponding one of the old warp (696 knots!), then pull the warp through the loom. It then takes around 5 days to weave a tweed depending on the complexity and length before the woven cloth has to be sent to the mainland mill for finishing. Woven cloth needs to be washed, dried, cropped and pressed (known as finishing) before it can finally be sewn!
