our Process

Design

From painting colour swatches to exploring archives.The starting point is determined by the nature of the collection, whether a collaboration, commission or new collection. For example in the Explorer’s Collection we looked through Carlowrie Castle’s Isobel Wylie Hutchison archives, in particular, an intricately beaded collar which was gifted to her by the Inuits. This consequently became the pattern for the weave structure.

Sampling

Our studio in Cockpit Bloomsbury has an Arm Loom where creating samples offers us the chance to play with colours. Most of our collections are double cloth which allows us to create beautifully strong colour blocks. It can throw up lovely mixtures of strong or subtle colours but double cloth can also create undesirable colours! We use the sampling to work out new patterns and colour although often pattern or colour combinations can change for the final design.

Spinning

The yarn we use embodies the quality of the product we produce. We work with a family owned spinners, founded in the 1700s in Huddersfield, who use the finest raw materials to create the highest quality yarns. Always striving to improve their environmental impact, they do not use hazardous dyes or allergy inducing products and are constantly striving to decrease their carbon footprint and energy consumption.

The Mill

Our blankets are woven in small mills in Carmarthenshire and Lancashire dating back from the 19th century, regions with a long tradition of weaving skill. Both mills are nestled in valleys within beautiful countryside where they were originally powered by water from nearby by rivers. They are magical places to visit with the hum of looms working away and the sound of rushing water. Each item sold comes with a signed story card from the mill. Click on the video links to see inside one of the mills. 

Finishing

Creating the final product is where our high quality yarn and skilled craftsmanship of the weavers is able to come to fruition. The blankets are finished in the Scottish Borders where the woven fabric is expertly finished into beautifully soft blankets. Owing to the incredibly soft water, no chemicals are used in the process. They are then skilfully stitched in Halifax. By investing in employees, the mills ensure future generations are highly skilled in the finishing of fabric. They are ISO 14001 certified and are committed to maintaining the highest environmental standards. 

Final Product

Available to buy online or in store at PLATFORM London, Fortnum & Mason, CAA Gallery London and Wolf & Badger New York.

Jamdani Process

History

The Romans called it ‘Woven Air’ and throughout time it has been revered as the finest cloth known to man. Jamdani, originally called Dhaka Muslin, has a long history intertwined with the East India Company, where at its peak of popularity it was worn by Marie Antoinette and no Georgian wedding was complete without it. The Mughals prized its sheerness and fluidity and became patrons to the weavers. Majeda’s Grandmother, whose fine muslin sari she still possesses, told tales of a cloth so fine it could pass through a ring or fold 5 metres into a matchbox. Sadly, due to the East India Company stranglehold, the industry collapsed at the turn of the 20th Century.

Village

Today there are less than 200 master weavers and the technique has UNESCO World Heritage status. The conditions for UNESCO status ensure that authentic Jamdani weaving takes place only in Bengal. Most weavers are situated just outside of Dhaka, in villages where streets are lined with dyed yarn and row upon row of weaver’s homes have bamboo pit looms. Husband and wife or father and son sit side by side to weave. It is a true cottage industry where specialists in Jamdani weaving share their skills and live in concentrated weaving villages.

Spinning

Weaving such fine yarn is a highly skilled process, however, the secret to true Dhaka muslin lies in the spinning. By today’s standard 80-100 count is considered a very fine yarn. In Mughal times it could be spun into 600 count thread; examples can be seen in the V&A museum. Conditions need to be perfect to spin the yarn, ideally in Monsoon season where the damp air allows the thread to be stretched to an almost gossamer like quality. The hands of a Dhaka Muslin spinner were so valued that often, as punishment for unfulfilled orders, East India Company officials brutally cut off the thumbs of spinners. Although 600 count spinning is now a lost art, fine yarn is still spun in the same region.

Design

Inspired by traditional motifs, Majeda simplifies designs to create thoughtful modern pieces. The designs often combine European aesthetics of clean geometric lines with classic Indian motifs like the “bhutis” or mango shapes to develop a new design language. The first collection was called “Suddenly” and it arose from a mistranslation between Majeda and the weavers, when they could not find a Bengali word for ‘random’ and the closest was “sudden”. Motifs were placed randomly on the cloth to highlight the imperfection of the handmade, where the freedom to break from the uniformity and repetition of machine looms is perfectly displayed in the Jamdani scarves. Each scarf is a one off. The confusion of ‘random’ and ‘sudden’ epitomises the nature of the Jamdani design ethos as the warp and weft of two cultures cross.

Sampling

Majeda travels to Bangladesh to weave the sample with the master weavers. They have taught Majeda a highly secretive craft and this is the stand out difference between this studio and other designers who work with master crafters. Majeda firstly uses any warp left on the looms to work out scale and finalize the design. She sits with a master weaver on a pit loom to weave one design then moves to the home of another master weaver to weave another design. This process is repeated with each design as each piece references the weaver's unique skill and style, a true signature of the weaver’s hand. Over years the relationship between Majeda’s studio, where designs are drawn and sampled, and the master weavers has flourished to the point of natural trust and symbiosis between designer and weaver. 

Weaving

Jamdani is woven by master weavers who have completed five year apprenticeships. It is a cottage industry where each stage of the process is operated by different families whose skills have been passed down through generations. One family will wind the warp, one will beam it, another will set up the loom and finally weave. No single person does the whole process as the Jamdani fabric is passed throughout the village and created as a collective. It is a deeply personal process taking place in their homes on home made bamboo floor pit looms where two weavers sit shoulder to shoulder and weave a single warp. The warps are heavily starched to add stability to the fabric whilst it is being woven. Once the piece is off the loom it is washed and agitated in the London studio allowing the fabric to become super soft. The more the Jamdani is held or used the softer it becomes. This small batch production of a cottage industry of Jamdani weaving has remained unchanged over centuries.