Wovember Words: Shetland Wool Pinafore Dress

Our finely honed appreciation for wool can bring such joy, especially when we can create something from fleece to finish. Sarah Howard wrote to WOVEMBER to tell us about her own favourite high wool content item.

I love spinning Shetland fleece and every year I head for the fleece sales at Woolfest to choose another one, particularly the coloured fleeces. I usually spin them in their natural colours but this time I decided to do some rainbow dyeing and just loved the results.

The lime green wool and silk warp provided a good strong colour base for the mixed colours of the fleece and was easy to set up on a 12” Ashford rigid heddle loom. It was woven with Shetland singles, spun on a Louet wheel after being very lightly carded to open up the fibres but not to overblend the colours.

A lovely breezy day was perfect for drying the fabric once it was off the loom. I made a six panel pinafore dress with godets to give a bit more flare to the hemline and side button bands for some waist shaping.
I love making clothes with my handwoven fabric- using narrow looms has never been a drawback and with careful seaming it’s possible to make your whole wardrobe.

Happy Weaving.

Thanks so much to Sarah for sharing her images and the process of creating her wondrous dress. You can read Sarah’s blog at www.creativeweaving.co.uk