Cottage Industry in the Heart of the City

 

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Who would have thought that a group of dyers and spinners would be located in urban London? Surrounded by farmyard animals such as sheep and alpacas, both of which provide wool for the spinners, horses, cows, goats, pigs, ducks, hens and more, alongside a dye garden, you can see why Vauxhall City Farm is perfect for such traditional textile skills.

 

 

 

The Farm is a community based charity that runs educational, recreational and therapeutic programmes for a wide range of people. With its close proximity to Central London and the various fashion, arts and textiles schools the spinners and dyers attract a mixture of interested locals, textile students and professionals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

{mosimage}Penny Walsh runs the group with Diane Sullock; she explained the group ethos to FashionCapital:

 

 

 

“We have always shared an interest in the welfare of the animals and the resulting quality of wool and hair fibres, and in the ecological and biodegradable qualities of dyes from plants and natural sources. We have experimented with unusual fibre mixes for knitted garments and revived lots of historic recipes and techniques for dyeing and printing.

 

 

 

“We provide volunteer tutors and gardeners (some from ‘Thrive’ a sheltered workplace) and raise money for materials and equipment by sales and events (we received a grant from Awards for all in 2005, and have been supported by the Crafts Council in the past).

 

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“We have also attracted the attention of some interested designers, for example; People Tree and Deborah Milner working for Aveda and a weaver working with the endangered St. Kilda sheep. We have been featured in several TV programmes, most recently Country File’s programme on Eco Textiles.”

 

 

 

Sounds fantastic. The group is currently working from plants in conjunction with the Pantone colour identification table. At this moment the focus is on the blue range. There are various courses and workshops available and the group also accepts small commissions from designers interested in their unique products, to find out more visit the website: www.dyework.co.uk.

 

 

 

Vauxhall City Farm is open to the public for free from Thursday’s to Sunday’s each week. As a charity it relies on donations and grants. You can make a donation by post (Vauxhall City Farm, 165 Tyers St, London, SE11.) Or by online credit card.

 

 

To make a donation click here

 

 

 

Thanks to Nigel Rust and Penny Walsh

 

 

 

By JoJo Iles