BA in Textile Design 2024 - Final 20 Piece Woven Warper and Twister Textile Collection.

The woven textile design collection is based on the history and further development of Sunny Bank Mills based in Leeds (Leeds Inspired, 2024).   Once being a productive weaving mill which began in 1829 is now run by the sixth generation of mill owners, known for being at the forefront of community for its culture and art (Leeds Inspired, 2024).  The Mill has created a strong art’s programme alongside the gallery and an archive which protects the history of the site, its objects, and stories (Leeds Inspired, 2024).  Sunny Bank is now home to many public spaces for leisure or business, as well as holding workshops and home to a range of artists and their studios (Leeds Inspired, 2024).  The designer previously had a placement year within the Museum and Archive at the mill and became in awe of the architecture, protected heritage, and the stories of those who worked in what was once a working textile mill. The placement led to them becoming a studio holder in the weaving shed, where looms are used for weaving workshops. The design collection aims to capture the history of the mill, its narratives, retelling the past through cloth, which was once produced on site.

Figure 1. Fox D. 2024. Sunny Bank Mills Site. Photograph.

The site-based collection is split into two Warper and Twister. They are based on a working position in the mill, to carry the warp and beam onto the loom and then thread up the loom, which was the setup before weaving can commence (Moaby, 2017). Warper is the three-dimensional collection of folding and pleated cloths. This architectural installation cloth plays around with light and space for the public spaces at the mill. The point is to make the public engage with its heritage and relate to their own textile heritage. The audience is those who visit the site to see the heritage and art in a new light. This cloth is for the public to touch and experience in the mills space engaging with heritage in another way. Twister is a commercial collection of two-dimensional cloth for lampshade coverings. Rather than using structural forms and space it uses motifs or colour to highlight the heritage. This enables the buyer to take the heritage into their own home from the gallery shop, whether it be the heritage of Sunny Bank or their more personal textile heritage. The market would be for those who appreciate high end craft, in which you would be paying for the time and quality of the product produced by the craftsman.

Figure 2. Fox D. 2024. Warper Self Folds. 

Figure 3. Fox D. 2024. Twister Large Triangle Motif Light.

The designer used the textile heritage as a reminder to look back into the past whilst we move forward into the future of the industry. Brown and Vacca write in Cultural Sustainability In Fashion: Reflections On Craft And Sustainable Development Models, 2022, that craftsmanship is rooted in community, identity and memory which constantly adapts (Brown and Vacca, 2022, pp 598). Craft knowledge is engrained into our history so fortifying the collective craft heritage as well as renewing local craft heritage creates sustainable investments for the future (Brown and Vacca, 2022, pp 598). Revisiting and renewing local craft heritage allows for developments and new knowledge is rooted in heritage that should merge the past with the future (Brown and Vacca, 2022, pp 598). These ideas are at the core of collection and design process.

In relation to Sunny Bank the collection aims to tell narratives of the architecture from its worn steps, battered walls to peaked roofs, but also the workers who worked and their tools. The workers had to make or share tools from Warp Twisters and their hooks to Menders and their needles (Moaby, 2017). 

Figure 4. Fox D. 2024. Weaving Shed and Looms Sunny Bank Mills. Photograph.

Craft in terms of the concept is weaving, the designer wove majority of their collection on their 1950s George Wood loom on the site. All designs have been created to weave on the 16-shaft loom as this collection once submitted is to carry on being developed and created. The Warper collection will be taken to the Mill Owners and Crafts Council so that the collection can be fully developed and integrated into Mill and community. Whilst available as commission pieces for galleries.

Studio Samira Boon weaves three-dimensional architectural cloth, which is focused on the site (Studio Samira Boon, 2023). They focus on creating technical origami cloth that folds, their goal is to collaborate with the client and the site to create the Archi-textiles (Studio Samira Boon, 2023). Taking this into consideration the designer took sampling and work to the Museum and Archive as well as the Studio holders at the mill to gain their insights. The aim of this was to see if the samples were engaging, stimulating and had a connection could be seen in the heritage of the mill. This design collection links heavily to the module Textile Design – Design Research and Critical and Analysis which focused on rooting in the contents of Museum and Archive by looking at the Warp Twister who worked in the Mills. Prints, chains, and the handmade tools were apart of colour choices or structures explored and finalised within the collection.

Kathyn Walters writes about the approaches of craft in terms of weaving and the jacquard industrial loom in the Emergent Behaviour As A Forming Strategy In Craft: The Workmanship Of Risk Applied To Industrial-loom Weaving, 2022. She states that craft in terms of weaving it is about the application of material in relation to the handwork of the weaver, (Walters, 2022). Whilst the whole collection is formed around the mill, there is a focus on handle and how various yarns and fibres weave together to create three-dimensional cloth that interacts with space and light. Yarns in the collection are cotton, paper, wool/steel, polymer shrink, silk/steel, and silks. Each yarn was woven as plain weave to see its handle and qualities, then throughout development samples qualities of the yarns were pushed. This ranged from paper warps with poly shrink and paper in the weft to create contrasting shrinkage through the push and pull of the fibres. Paper was combined with steel yarns to create cloth that would self fold and keep its shape. These yarns have a memory which was discovered throughout sampling. Paper has one which is natural can be manipulated yet can also go back to its original form and become more organic mainly after washing or when combining it with another yarn. The wool/steel has a gritty quality, whilst the silk and steel are smooth, yet both have a sheen, and their memory is structured and man-made meaning it can be folded and manipulated and will not resist.

Whilst being material based the Warper collection also focuses on three-dimensional double cloth pleats and structures. The warps were set to straight drafts using the weft-faced double cloth structures. The designer in their research noted that three-dimensional woven cloth is now mostly produced by industrial jacquard looms. This collection directly opposes the modern jacquard industrial loom. The designer uses a 1950s dobby loom, which uses a lag and peg system similar to punch cards, the loom has two beams which allow for double cloth. This collection is to show that a loom that is from the past is just as capable to create complex woven material, which was achieved throughout the collection using the yarns chosen. This collection was also woven on the Arm Looms at the University, using both looms allowed for maximum production. However, all woven pieces have been designed to be able to be woven on the George Wood Loom. Finishing Techniques from washing, folding, and manipulating through starch or steaming was crucial to create three-dimensional material.The designer knew that using polyester shrink yarns and steel twists wasn’t the most ethical and sustainable choice. A range of cotton yarns used in the collection were bought from The Scrap Shop which is on-site of Sunny Bank, which sell materials and objects that originally would be disposed into landfill (Scrap Centre of Creative Reuse, 2024). The goal is in the future of the collection, a collaborative relationship would form between the designer and scrap. This would be so that the collection balances out it’s ethics and actions, yet the forefront of the collection is woven cloth that is rooted in the site of Sunny Bank.

Regarding the future of the collection as mentioned it aims to continue after it has been handed in. The designer sees that there is potential for more development and experimentation but due to the time constraints decisions had to be made. Ideas such as cloth that has elements of single cloth and double cloth connecting and disconnecting and using paper and steel yarns in the warp. Overall wanting to push the materials used and expanding on the motifs chosen in the Twister collection from heddles and parts of the tools. Another future development is that designer has been approached by others to collaborate expanding the collection. There were various artists who have used the archive as inspiration one is Liz O’Connell whose practise uses glass as a medium to explore labour and physiological connections to textiles (O’Connell, 2024). They have been talking about creating pleated woven cloth that combines glass and tools to push use of materials further. The designer sees that this collection and topic is bigger than oneself. They hope to continue to use the mill as cornerstone in their creations. This collection has made the designer realise that at the core of their practice they want to continue making textiles based on sites and our collective heritage.

Illustration List

Studio Samira Boon. 2016. Super Folds. [Online] [Accessed 1 May 2024]. Available from: https://www.samiraboon.com/super-folds

Reference List

Brown S, Vacca F. 2022. Cultural sustainability in fashion: reflections on craft and sustainable development models. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, Vol 18(1), pp 590 - 600.

Moaby, R. 2017. Interview with David Pugh. 7 August, Sunny Bank Mills Farsley Leeds.

Scrap Centre of Creative Reuse. 2024. Scrap Stuff Homepage. [Online] [Accessed 3 April 2024]. Available from: https://scrapstuff.co.uk/

Studio Samira Boon. 2023. Studio Samira Boon Website Studio. [Online] [Accessed 3 February 2024]. Available from: https://www.samiraboon.com/studio

Walters, K. 2022. Emergent behaviour as a forming strategy in craft: The workmanship of risk applied to industrial-loom weaving. Craft Research. Vol 13. Pp 327-348.

Leeds Inspired. 2024. Leeds Inspired Website Places Sunny Bank Mills. [Online] [Accessed 3 February 2024]. Available from: https://www.leedsinspired.co.uk/places/sunny-bank-mills

O’Connell, L. 2024. Liz O’Connell Glass Website About. [Online] [Accessed 3 April 2024]. Available from: https://www.lizoconnellglass.com/