Thursday 23 August 2012

Braids 2012–Maccelsfield

Today we went to Maccelsfield Silk Museums.

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This is my very first British High St. Alan and I played hooky here after lunch. But before lunch this is what we got up to.

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We were taken to the Paradise Mill where they still have operable Jacquard Looms. These are some of the Jacquard Cards; I love the patterns and am already inspired to use these as a starting point for some upcoming projects.

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This is looking down the factory floor. There is another identical row on the other side.

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Threads on the loom.

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Given that most of the unskilled labour in these factories was performed by women and/or children I don’t know how they lifted these weights. I tried and only managed to slide about an inch.

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These are yarn swifts. They have them hanging in bunches from the ceilings. The photos are a bit dodgy due to the light but hanging there they remind me of Sputnik.

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This is a weavers table with tools, cards and thread. Reminds me a little (lots) of the mess i left behind at home.

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Graphing out the design before the cards were punched.

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A close up of the design. When woven this design was about the size of  50 cent piece.

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I saved this cord winder for last. This Museum was worth climbing the three flights of stairs for; I took so many more images of Maccelsfield but will save them for a time when I don’t have anything else to share. bahaha!

1 comment:

Sue Grier said...

Loving the blogs Trish. Feels like I am on holidays again. Enjoy yourself.