Newburgh Handloom Weavers

Our loom

Newburgh Handloom Weavers uses a Thomas Kennedy handloom, built in Galashiels around the end of the 19^th century. The Kennedy loom has two flying shuttles which can produce fine tweed in Twill, Herringbone and Houndstooth amongst others. Our loom is a traditional wooden loom, non-mechanised, which works by one hand throwing the shuttle, one hand beating the cloth and both feet working the treadles to change the shed. These types of loom were common pre-1920’s and require a great deal of skill to produce an even cloth and to balance the loom.

What we do

Our loom weaves very high quality woollen tweed in a variety of designs and colours, all of which are entirely hand-woven. We produce short lengths of single-width tweed on our Kennedy loom capable of producing cloth up to 45” wide. We are weaving traditional tweeds using Scottish wool, dyed and spun in Scotland, supporting a traditional industry which goes back generations. Jimmy has learned to weave in this way, being taught by master weavers, and is now passing on this sense of tradition and pride to Erika, who is continuing this legacy. We are honouring and reviving tweed production as it used to be and producing cloth which is every bit as high quality as that produced on modern looms. Together we are hoping to build a long-term sustainable business based on tradition and traditional skills, involving a sense of heritage and love of wool, and where Jimmy can pass on his skills and knowledge to Erika to continue producing tweed in this time-honoured way.

In order to reach the stage where we can weave our cloth, there are a number of steps which we need to take. We begin by choosing our yarn and then make a sample warp to test out the combination of colours and design. We then calculate the amount of yarn needed to make the cloth and prepare the pirns for the warp. Next, we need make the warp and wind it onto the back roller before transferring the warp from the back roller onto the loom. From here, we thread the yarn through the heddles and reed according to the design being used and then we are ready to start weaving! Once the cloth has reached the end, we hear the irons fall to the floor as they are released from the warp and it is time to shout ‘Glad Iron’! The cloth is now ready to be cut from the loom and sent to the finishers for washing, shrinking and cropping. Our cloth is now ready to be made into a variety of garments and furnishings from jackets and waistcoats to cushions, curtains and upholstery. Our process from handloom to heirloom is now complete.

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