I heart Harris Tweed for bags

Hellooo!

Yep still very much here, still very much at home,  still very much writing like the clappers.  My work is not glamorous or exotic, but I am grateful nonetheless.

I've just finished a Vivienne Westwood-esque bag made in the most divine pink and purple Harris Wool Tweed for the book.  Harris Tweed has to be the most gorgeous cloth I have worked with so far.  The quality of the cloth is just superb and no wonder, from the moment you unpack your parcel, the rich patterns peek out the wrappings - grabbing you for swim in their deep colours.  Then you breathe in the earthy scent of the wool, run your palms over the woven fibres, and you are then transported into a lone windswept cottage in Scotland where a man is working hard at his loom creating the very fabric that you behold.  To me (a self-confessed fabric nerd) it's a very personal and sensual thing.

You get these labels sent to you when you order Harris Tweed cloth, or they appear on items made from Harris Tweed.  Cute aren't they?

A sneaky peek cropped photo of my latest bag (that will appear in the book).  Made from pink and purple Harris Tweed.  In case you were wondering the tweed I have used is: A032 Fuchsia/Back 

The cloth is so amazing not just for the depth of colour, but for the fact that each and every yard is hand woven by men in their own homes on the Isle of Harris or Lewis.  Then each and every yard is checked over by human eye.  The wool yarns may be machine spun and dyed, but the Tweed cloth is only ever woven by hand - before being taken back to the mill to be washed.  It's been like that for centuries and I hope that's the way it will stay for many many centuries more.  Harris Tweed is the antithesis of mass production.  It's true that mass production has it's own place for keeping prices down and ensuring ready availability, but it's for those reasons that a mass produced product can never be as meaningful and special as an item that has been made by hand (as if we crafters didn't already know).

Oh it was so hard to cut into the Tweed to make my bag!  After drafting my bag pattern before cutting the fabric I suffered a serious crisis of confidence - was I going to be able to do justice to this beautiful material?  Was the result going to be good enough for the book?  Nearghhh!  Very happy to say that the result was (to my mind) flipping gorgeous and the cloth a absolute delight to work with.

If you fancy getting your mitts on some of this amazing wool try this Harris Tweed Store.  They have a fabulous range of colours and the owner Catherine, is a sweetheart who knows her Tweed (she also has the loveliest Scottish accent). Oh and the prices are very reasonable too (if this was sold in London, it would be stuuuupid money!)

It just so happened that there was a very interesting Harris Tweed documentary on TV last night about the cloth, folks who create the cloth, and an unsavoury chap that wanted to corner the market with his tweed jackets... I'm not sure if this programme is available to folks outside of the UK, so apologies if it isn't.

What with book writing and things I'm finding it hard to blog nearly as often as I would like - which I HATE because it makes me feel like I am missing out on the party.  So (for the time being) until I grow another pair of hands you'll find me hanging around more on Twitter.  If you're interested in my chatter I'll see you there.  OX!

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