Jubilee Weekend

Wonderwool was wonderful; lots of people came despite the very cold weather - never been that cold at Wonderwool before and we've been going since it started. We had a lovely response to all our work and to the Organic Welsh Wool Fabric project that had just kicked off in conjunction with Ystrad Farm. More about this in a seperate post. For now, here's what we have planned for the long Bank Holiday weekend:

2nd & 3rd June you can find us at BWA Design, playing shop in the front room. It's in Castle Lane in Hay on Wye and that's the first weekend of Hay Festival. Castle Lane is just off the market place and there'll be signs out. At the SAME time:

We'll be opening up our little studio in Talgarth - 8 miles or so out of Hay, towards Brecon. We'll be taking it in turns at shop and studio. On the Saturday and Monday, Emily will be in the studio doing some screen printing, sewing, new design work, and on the Sunday and Tuesday I'll be playing on my knitting machines (never get enough time just to play around with ideas so Open Studio is ideal!)

There's a poster here: http://www.llynfitextiles.co.uk/ or email us: info@llynfitextiles.co.uk for more details.

Come and See Us!

This coming weekend - 28h/29th April - it's Wonderwool Wales at the Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells. We'll be sharing a stand as usual with Ystrad Farm and this year it's no. F2, titled 'Organic Textiles Wales'. We'll have our wool knitwear and flannel clothing with some new designs, and Ystrad will have beautiful Wensleydale curls and yarns, and also 'Best Welsh' - greys and cream yarns and carded fleece from Hill Radnor crosses.
Also - there'll be information about a new joint project: Welsh Organic Wool Fabric.

Looking ahead, at the start of June for the long Bank Holiday, we'll be working flat out with Open Studio and a Pop-Up Shop. The Open Studio will be part of the Crickhowell Art Trail. We'll be working on our dressmaking and knitting machines on alternate days, and doing a bit of screen printing with our natural dyes.
At the same time, we'll be opening up 'shop' in Hay on Wye in the front room of WBA Design, The Byway,  Castle Lane in Hay. It's also the first weekend of Hay Festival, which is celebrating 25 years this year. (I remember when it hadn't long started, and was held in the school grounds.....my tenuous connection: being one of the Brecon Cathedral ringers for Peter Florence's wedding)

Even further ahead: there'll be Llandovery Sheep Festival, The Globe's Hay Fayre, Cardiff Fashion Week (!), Made by Hand at Tredegar House, Pop Up at Talgarth Mill.....a busy autumn. More about that lot nearer the time.

http://www.wonderwoolwales.co.uk/

http://www.crickhowellinfo.org.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/FashionWeekCardiff

http://www.madebyhand-wales.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Llandovery-Sheep-Festival/157056637684802

Workshop Update

 Last Saturday we held our first 'Llynfi' workshop at Talgarth Mill. Up in the Granary space, under the eaves, it's a great little room and just right for half a dozen people to work in.  Emily had been taken ill at the start of January so it was touch and go whether this day would happen; the posters didn't get put up, and extra promotion didn't happen, but four 'students' made it viable. And it turned out to be such a lovely day after the start to the year! Two sets of friends made for a great atmosphere. Measurements were taken and plotted, and points joined up on sheets of paper to make a simple sweater shape; we looked at design ideas and calculated stitches and rows.

 I hadn't lead a 'class' for quite a few years and forgotten just how inspiring it can be, teaching others. We're looking forward to making some more days: the postponed skirt pattern cutting day will now happen at the end of March, and we'll run another basic knit design day probably in May. Colour and texture is another subject and this may take the form of a 'play day' for grown-ups! Let us know at info@llynfitextiles.co.uk if you would like to be kept updated with workshops.

Workshops!

Email info@llynfitextiles.co.uk for further info! (if you haven't noticed our address on our website, Talgarth is near Brecon in Powys, Wales)

'Pop-Up' Shop Weekend

Our first solo event was a huge success - many thanks to everyone who came along over the two days. Originally we had been looking for somewhere in Hay to stage a 'pop-up shop' but nowhere seemed available. Then it suddenly struck us that, of course, we have a perfect venue now in Talgarth - right on the doorstep - in Talgarth Mill. But would anyone come?

Talgarth has suffered from an unjustified negative reputation in its local area; this probably stems from the old Victorian asylum days and it's taken a very long time to subside. But over the last few years several local groups have been working very hard to reverse attitudes - the Festival Group started with organising a local annual festival some 16 years ago and from this also grew a Christmas Lights group and Talgarth has the best Christmas lights in the area, especially the coloured globes zig-zagging along over the little river. The Festival of the Black Mountains now takes place every August Bank Holiday and is a wonderful, old fashioned and traditional event rather like a vicarage garden party on a whole village scale. And it's free! Then a regeneration committee was set up, a monthly market was re-started and a project completed to renovate the old watermill. Slowly, Talgarth is finding it's place again. And rightly so because it is a pretty little place in a stunning location.

Anyway! Back to our weekend in the Mill - it turned out to have been absolutely the right decision and we are so glad to have chosen Talgarth as our first event. In fact - we are planning now on setting up regularly, say March, September and December on the first weekends in those months to coincide with the market. (June is tricky when you sell mostly wool....!) We'll also look at expanding what we sell to include organic Welsh wool yarns and maybe some fabrics from the Welsh weaving mills. If you'd like to be kept posted, sign up to the mailing list on our contact page on the website - you won't get bombarded, it's only done maybe once a month.

http://www.talgarthfestival.org.uk

http://www.talgarthmill.com/

http://www.talgarthcentre.org.uk

Comming Soon!

Just wanted to share a quick photo of our new Tail Coat...

As seen (on it's very first outing!) at Compton Marbling Christmas Fair a couple of weeks ago, the new design is all ready to go -just got to get our models in for a bit of posing and then get it up on the website!
It is made in our favourite combination of Welsh flannel with organic, naturally dyed cotton lining. A-symmetrical, light weight and fairly close cut, it is designed to be worn as a top layer with a light shirt or dress. We will also be offering it in the lighter grey with green lining.

We will have some at our pop-up shop (Talgarth Mill, 3rd & 4th Dec) and at the Winter Gathering Craft Fayre and Art Sale with Arts Alive (The Old School, Crickhowell 9th Dec).

So, anyone wanting one in time for Christmas, do come along or get in touch as the order book is filling up!

Organic Textiles - how can you be certain?

I've been trawling the internet for certified organic cotton, both yarns and fabrics. And time and again I think I've found something but when posing the question 'can you supply copies of your certification' the answer is 'we don't have any'.

In the States textiles come under the same ruling as food - they can't be described as 'organic' unless certification is in place up to the point of sale. In Europe, while this applies to food, there is no such ruling for textiles and clothing.

Currently, yarns and fabrics can be marketed as 'organic' by the very fact that they contain organically grown fibres. Many retailers buy certified organic fabric and yarn in bulk and then rewind and repackage it under their own label, describing it as organic. Of course, it still is what they say, but the traceability system has stopped at the point at which the company takes delivery. And a fabric and yarn can still be described as 'organic' simply because it is spun / woven with certified fibre. Under Organic Standards all processes are monitored and recorded and only permitted dyes and spinning oils and detergents are allowed. If a company is not signed up to the Standards, then there is no compunction to use only permitted substances or to keep records of traceability.

 If you buy an item and it has the 'GOTS' symbol or similar on the label, then you can be sure of it's provenance. Does this matter to you? Or do you find the whole thing just a tad confusing?