The Peg Loomer – Northern England Fibreshed https://northernenglandfibreshed.org Creating a community of regenerative textile producers across Lancashire, Cumbria, Merseyside, Cheshire and Greater Manchester Thu, 21 Aug 2025 12:30:34 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 https://northernenglandfibreshed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/cropped-2908FD90-B18E-4C88-BB31-A00A9C2D01E2-32x32.jpeg The Peg Loomer – Northern England Fibreshed https://northernenglandfibreshed.org 32 32 Great Yorkshire Show features Northern England Fibreshed Members https://northernenglandfibreshed.org/great-yorkshire-show-features-northern-england-fibreshed-members/ Thu, 21 Aug 2025 12:18:03 +0000 https://northernenglandfibreshed.org/?p=23605

Three members of the Northern England Fibreshed were showcasing wool from the region at the Great Yorkshire Show last month. 

This year, the 166th event hosted the ‘Wensleydale Sheep: A Handcrafted History’ exhibition, which tells the story, past and present, of the Wensleydale sheep breed. It is a travelling exhibition that features artworks by 40 textile artists throughout the UK, all of whom have made use of the breed's wool. 

The Wensleydale breed traces its origins back to a single sire born in 1839 in the Yorkshire Dales. The breed was as yet unnamed when it was first given its own class at the Great Yorkshire Show in 1876, after which it was formally named and recognised as the Wensleydale.

The artists' pieces for the exhibition were all crafted using native, rare breed Wensleydale sheep wool, and included hand-woven tapestries, knitted lace garments, felted 'wool paintings,' and reupholstered furniture. Alongside the artworks, historical photographs of the sheep were displayed, with some Wensleydale sheep themselves meeting and greeting visitors as they walked around the exhibition, which was located next to the Ariat GYS Stage.

 

BBC's Helen Skelton at The Great Yorkshire Show with Northern England Fibreshed member Jodi Shadforth. Photo © Jodi Shadforth
Wensleydale Sheep: A Handcrafted History’ exhibition at the Great Yorkshire Show curated by Jodi Shadforth. Photo: © Jodi Shadforth
Photo © Jodi Shadforth

Every day of the Great Yorkshire Show a variety of woolcraft demonstrations took place in the exhibition space, including a range of heritage woolcrafts - from spinning and peg loom weaving to bobbin lace and felting, designed to show visitors a variety of ways to utilise wool.
 

Overall, the exhibition's visit to the Great Yorkshire Show was a brilliant success, attracting media attention from the likes of The Farmers Guardian and BBC Radio 4's Farming Today. It has been an exciting opportunity to educate the public about the link between a living, breathing animal and the textiles that can be created using their wool, about rural heritage and the woolcrafts that humans have engaged in for thousands of years and of course about the rare and beautiful Wensleydale breed of sheep. (Jodi Shadford)

The exhibition is organised by members of the Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Breeders' Association (WLSBA), led by WLSBA secretary Jodi Shadforth. Photo © Jodi Shadforth 
Photo © Sophie Heywood
Photo © Sophie Heywood

The Peg Loomer, Sophie Heywood, joined the Rare Breed Survival Trust tent with her fully traceable, rare breed yarns and knitwear alongside needle felted and handwoven creations. Sophie gave a talk on British Wool and accessible wool crafts.  

Oubas Knitwear and soon-to-be new Fibreshed member, Glencroft also featured in the British Wool tent and fashion show.

Photo © Kate Stalker
Photo © Kate Stalker
]]> Rare breed, fully traceable yarns from The Peg Loomer  https://northernenglandfibreshed.org/rare-breed-fully-traceable-yarns-from-the-peg-loomer/ Wed, 13 Nov 2024 11:25:55 +0000 https://northernenglandfibreshed.org/?p=23514

Sophie Hetherington Heywood’s business, ‘The Peg Loomer’ was focused on sustainability from the very start when she first learnt how to use a peg loom at an off grid community in Wales in 2020. Having returned home to Greater Manchester and asking on a local Facebook group for fleece she was shocked to discover how much local wool was going to waste.

“Since then I’ve been on a mission to utilise this wonderful resource that’s all around us. It’s been a steep learning curve, going from peg loom rugs, to felting, to having wool carded and spun at a mill for spinner and knitters. But I’ve had lots of support from the experts.”

Sophie sources wool from small farms in Yorkshire and Saddleworth and has it spun at Halifax Spinning Mill in Bridlington, East Yorkshire. “As well as all the help from Paul at the mill, I am very lucky to know Jacinta Bowie, a knitwear designer who lives down the road from the flock of Manx Loaghtan sheep who’s wool I first started working with. Jacinta is passionate about British wool, and kindly offered to create some knitwear patterns for me to give for free alongside the yarn. Her designs are gorgeous and have been really popular at wool shows”, Sophie adds.  

Sophie also uses the carded sliver in her peg loom rugs and felted creations, and when teaching others these crafts in her workshops. “I love that I can tell people exactly where this wool has come from, and many people really value that. I am focused on rare breeds, to help support farmers to continue to keep these breeds.” 

The Peg Loomer wools include Manx Loaghtan, Whitefaced Woodland, a blend of Whitefaced Woodland and Shetland, and soon Norfolk Horn, all in their natural colours. She has recently featured in Knitting Magazine’s British Wool Special. 

Upcoming workshops:

Sunday 20th October – Needle Felted Sheep Baa-bles at The Making Mill, Hebden Bridge 

Sunday 27th October – Peg Loom Weaving at Woodend Mill, Mossley, Greater Manchester

Sunday 3rd November – Peg Loom Weaving at The Making Mill, Hebden Bridge 

Saturday 23rd November – Circular Peg Loom Weaving (Advanced) at Hebble End Works, Hebden Bridge

Wednesday 4th December – Needle Felted Sheep Baa-bles at The Making Mill, Hebden Bridge 

Sunday 8th December – Needle Felted Sheep Baa-bles at Woodend Mill, Mossley

Wednesday 11th December – Needle Felted Owls at The Making Mill, Hebden Bridge

Sunday 15th December – Peg Loom Weaving at The Making Mill, Hebden Bridge

For more information visit www.thepegloomer.co.uk.

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