The British Fabric Collection

Lovers of fabric, well good quality fabrics, you know we endeavour to find the best fabrics we can and fortunately we still can even though the majority are obviously not woven in the UK any more. Sitting in an old weaving mill, now converted into units housing a few different businesses it seems a shame that all the fabric manufacturing and skills that we had only 40 years ago have all but disappeared.

 At the launch of the first ever National Wool Week last week HRH Prince Charles the Prince of Wales announced his official commitment to the sheep farmer and wool textile industry at a small gathering of the farming, wool textile and retail sectors at the National Woollen Museum in Wales in June.

His aim is to promote the wonder of the yarn which can be spun and woven to make a huge variety of fabrics. Wool exemplifies many of the qualities the Campaign for Wool is focused on; it is a natural, biodegradable and renewable fibre, comfortable, fashionable and long-lasting. Wool apparel has long been the favourite of designers but younger consumers, born in an era of “disposable” fashion, know too little about the benefits of wool. Maybe Doctor Who will help! How can he do this? Topshop are paying homage to the character who wears Harris Tweed with a range of Blazers using the 60in wide machine woven wools that have been introduced to the Scottish Isles by a gentleman famous in the textile world known as Haggis. I hasten to add that these will not be the narrow 30 - 36in hand woven fabrics you find in Saville Row.

Marks and Spencer’s too are using wool woven in England, no doubt somewhere in Yorkshire, in its best range of suits. My husband bought one last week and the fabric really is fabulous, not cheap though but understandably and I think that’s its great that we can still buy something that offers something manufactured in the UK.

We have some more wool fabrics just in, most of them have been manufactured in England and the British Isles, some in Italy. All are wonderful! I do get excited when these come in and want to keep some for myself but we don’t have much.

Just to make it clear we have decided to mark all fabrics manufactured in the UK with a Union Jack. You can see all of our wool fabrics here.