Shielagh Tacey Handwoven

I was amazed when I saw these photographs of woven spider silk currently on display in London at the V&A.

It takes the silk from 23,000 golden orb spiders to weave just 25 grams of silk. These spiders are found in Madagascar and are borrowed from the forest to extract their silk before returning them unharmed.

Photographs: John Brown/Nicholas Godley/Simon Peers

See more photographs here.

A Christmas treat for your eyeballs, enjoy! See you all in 2012…

Animation by David Shrigley

It’s that time of year already! I’m still taking Christmas commissions but they need to be emailed to me by 12th December for delivery by Christmas.

Going on to my loom next is a batch of Gentlemen’s Herringbone Scarves. These scarves will be the ideal Christmas gift for brothers, Dads and boyfriends.  If you want to preorder one please contact me quick!

Looking for a perfect gift for an Aunty or Grandma? Check out this very unique scarf below:

It is available to buy here. I will be updating my etsy shop regularly with new stock so please keep checking for new stock and email me with any queries.

Also available here a cheeky dahdee monster for a brother or boyfriend?

I was in Bristol last weekend and saw some brilliant street art. Above is yarn bombed pillar and below a whale wearing a Cosby style jumper.

This fox carrying away the dry riser inlet really tickled me and was my favourite find of the day. This may have something to do with my love of foxes due to my Leicester roots.

I was very pleased this week to finally see samples of my designs back from Centex in India. I have been doing freelance design work  for their Autumn/Winter Collection. The photograph above is my first design following the colour blocking trend that will continue next year. Below is my Moth Print design that I have previously mentioned here.

This design was based on a large scale print trend for Autumn/Winter 2012. I am really pleased with the quality of the finished print as all my painted details have been beautifully reproduced.  I am hoping to eventually create my own range of printed textiles and woven scarf designs for manufacture, in the meantime please feel free to contact me here.

I  visited  Summerlee last weekend and was pleased to see these weaving artefacts. Above is a window display of shuttles, yarn and woven fabrics. Inside I could see a dobby and tapestry loom that appeared to be in use. I’d like to find out who uses these looms as I also saw some handwoven items for sale in the gift shop, I’m always on the hunt for other weavers!

Below is a banner I saw inside the main Summerlee museum, it caught my attention because of the shuttle in the hog’s mouth. It is a banner for Airdrie Weavers Society. Founded in 1781 the Airdrie Weavers Society helped weavers get better work conditions and pay.

Below is a photograph of a four shaft floor loom in the main Sumerlee museum. This is what it said on the display information:

“Loom: Cloth has been woven in Scotland since prehistoric time. Until the industrial era, weaving was a task performed at home by housewives. Women used local wool or flax to make clothes and blankets for their families and local communities.

Weaving was one of the earliest industries in Lanarkshire. Like domestic weaving it was done at home, but often by men. Weavers’ cottages were even built with a room especially for the loom.

Even after spinning yarn for the loom was done on a large scale in mills, most of the cloth made in Scotland came from handlooms. In 1838 there were still 48000 handlooms in lowland Scotland. These were soon replaced by power looms and weaving moved from home to the factory.”

My friend Anna Williams is a baking genius! We went to Glasgow School of Art together and I’m utterly impressed with her cake decorating skills. She is based in Sheffield and I think I may need to visit soon to taste these beauties! YUM.

She offers a large range of cakes on her website and even cake making workshops. Above is one of her classic wedding cake designs and below a fantastic children’s party cake.

Please check out her website here and also her facebook page. Get 15% OFF my etsy shop with code from HERE!

I’ve just updated my shop with several items including this autumnal scarf, buy here! I blended oranges, greens and browns to create this scarf, perfect for the cooler weather that seems to be fast approaching. I used a Gothic Cross weaving pattern, this pattern is shown in detail below.

I enjoy looking at the Guardian galleries for incredible photographs of current events. Recently I saw these photographs of weaving in Egypt related to this article and thought I should share them here. These photos are part of this Guardian Gallery, photographs by El-Dakhakhny/UNICEF UK.

I have been commissioned to design a range of scarves for Autumn/Winter 2012/2013. It has been a rewarding opportunity for me to put my illustration skills to use. Above is a close up of one of the paintings I have produced for my first design.

This moth design is the first of my completed designs in the range, it is for a printed scarf and will be printed on 100% wool. I am really pleased with the colours as they look realistic to life and are also very suitable for autumn. I have designed the print at two scales as a key trend for AW 2012/13 is the use of very large scale prints. Below is the smaller scale of my two finished scarf designs.

Researching trend predictions for AW 2012/2013 has given me valuable knowledge that I can transfer to my own handwoven textiles. Currently I am planning my own colour palette for Shielagh Tacey Handwoven Textiles AW 2012/13 and a trip to buy new yarn… details to follow!