The first bolt - Glenluffin Tweed
When I first set up Chocflock in 2021 to champion the woollen products of Castlemilk Moorit sheep (CMM) I dreamed of creating a woven fabric for clothing – something colourful and practical, a celebration of the qualities of our gorgeous sheep’s fibre and a shared Scottish heritage. There was a speedy reality check when I realised that it would take a volume of fleece, and a level of knowledge that, quite simply, I was lacking.
What followed was three years of intensive trial and thankfully very little error as I started successfully collaborating with a mill (The Border Mill, Duns) and professional hand weaver (Janis Embleton, Flight Weaving). We began by creating a blended yarn (50% CMM and 50% undyed Shetland fibre) to eke out my limited supply of CMM fleece. The blended yarn natural base was dyed in a limited colour palette of earthy yet vibrant complementary colours, based on what I could see from the farm window. Over successive years Janis and I worked on a series of hand-woven projects that would use the spun 4-ply yarn, creating an upholstery fabric and three different styles of shawls and wraps.
Learning as I have gone along has meant that by last year I was ready to tackle the next big step and create an apparel weight fabric for clothing.
Typically, my creative process always starts with the wool to ensure that the rich earthy tones of the Castlemilk Moorit sheep’s fleece are seen to contribute to the ultimate beauty of the piece.
This decision imposes several parameters on any project – firstly the colour of the fibre and how to bring it to life; secondly the limited availability of fleece – as we know, they really are scarce; and thirdly the cyclicality of the entire shearing, gathering, spinning process that relies on the production schedules of a number of specialists who are prepared to work on small runs of materials, with non-mainstream characteristics.
By Spring 2023 through our CMM network I had gathered sufficient fleece (thanks to Rhanna Russell, Fiona Hannay and Tober Brown) to work with the spinning mill on a fabric weight of yarn and pencilled in a slot at the end of 2023 in the busy schedule of artisan Scottish weaver Sam Goates (Woven in the Bone).
The next challenge was to manufacture a coloured yarn incorporating Castlemilk Moorit fleece that was thin enough for Sam to work with on her looms. The solution was to spin a tweed yarn, using three sources of fibre (two-parts dyed Shetland and one-part natural CMM). When this combination was spun together we had a coloured thread with the required strength and weight.
Inspiration for the blended yarn colours and the plaid design came from the green of the fields around the farm, separated by the grid of stonewalls, with the glint of blue water from the Solway firth on the horizon and the streams running alongside the field edge. In the Winter golden sun stripes run across the fields, enhanced with a soft coral glow in the morning and evening light. For these thread blends to really pop I added sparks of colour e.g. a combination of peacock and teal Shetland (plus the CMM mocha) for the blue thread.
Utility was critical – it needed to be a fabric that would be beautiful yet hard-wearing and become a long lasting, cherished piece of clothing. It needed to inspire people to make distinctive garments that would stand out in any rural setting or city street across the world. A modern design, yet recognisably following a tradition in Scottish woven materials.
The opportunity to work with Sam Goates has transformed the project. Working on a pedal powered Hattersley Dobby loom from the 1940s she took on the slightly uneven yarn, interpreted my hand drawn design and has woven a very lovely cloth where the integrity of the fabric reflects the skills that have gone into its creation.
Based in an old plumbers shed on the edge of Buckie harbour in the north of Scotland she is an artisan weaver, ably assisted by two of her sisters. Their expertise is recognised globally by tailors, designers and fellow weavers, and a steady flow of projects destined for tailor’s shops and ateliers from Portland, Oregon to Tokyo. Into this rarefied arena Sam managed to squeeze a wee tweed project for Chocflock.
In a thoroughly modern twist, Sam’s work is watched globally by over 65,000 people on-line via Instagram (@woveninthebone). Through digital photographs, video and podcasts, she shares her working life with an international audience. In mid-January 2024 she began featuring progress on the Chocflock tweed, resulting in a surge of interest and several thousands of people watching, liking and commenting on the yarn colours, the pattern and the weaving process over the subsequent weeks.
In response Sam has also shared some short films I generated with my CMM flock as the ‘Production crew’ in their field; of me extolling the virtues of a CMM fleece I am sorting (sparking a flurry of interest from some hand spinners in the Middle East); and an explanation on the blending process for the coloured threads in the fabric, highlighting the contribution of the CMM fibre for its mocha tones. In parallel my own modest audience of Instagram followers has quadrupled and continues to grow. Importantly the CMM aspect of the story is a powerful and emotive connection and is being told and retold, powered by a digital network and human fascination.
The final fabric has now arrived back to my farm, almost a year after it was first sent out as raw ‘in the grease’ fleece to be spun at the mill. It is now ready for the next stage of its creative journey. Tailors and dressmakers are already transforming this material into stylish yet practical garments. Before it was even off the loom over a third of the fabric was already sold and is destined for Chicago and Brussels, with enquiries continuing to come in from across the world. People are loving it. Social media has lit up, with likes firing in from small farms in Canada to mosque painters in Turkey. There is a demonstrably universal appeal in this quintessentially Scottish story.
Along this entire journey there is a constant and historic thread that transcends international borders, languages and cultures – a love and respect for sheep, their wool and the beautiful objects that can be created from this sustainable fibre for practical and decorative use.
I hope that the ultimate wearers of these garments understand the value and uniqueness of its creation and the richness we can find when we look beyond a colour palette that starts with white.