Handmade in Helme

Handmade in Helme
Weaving with you in mind

Threads of life stories hand woven into one-of-a-kind pieces...

"Beautiful!
And with so much of me in it. I absolutely love it."
(H.H. West Sussex)
Welcome
About me
Hi. My name is Susan and I weave and spin on the top floor of a weaver's cottage where the Peak District and the South Pennines meet. This beautiful place is steeped in textile history but my first memories of loving woven cloth are of the traditional Welsh patterns surrounding me as a young child in South Wales; the capes, purses, skirts and blankets. I spent a lot of time with my mother in the wool shop where she worked and loved the feel and colours of the yarns, plus being allowed to play with and sort balls of wool into colour families. I cried for days when she left that job!

Subsequent years spent living in the south western states of the US and travelling the world have taught me that woven textiles can be so much more than beautiful material. It's the stories behind, that flow through the entire process of a weave, that bring a sense of life, meaning and a truly unique quality to a piece.

The essence of the weave
A person, a passion, a place, a moment in time... captured in unique and highly personal pieces. It can be as simple or as complex as you like. As simple as a request for a specific colour, as complex as multiple strands of a life represented by yarns, textures and patterns.

Whether it's a treat for yourself or a gift for a loved one, I look forward to collaborating with you on the path to creating distinctive, individual scarves, shawls, baby blankets, throws and more.
Recent projects

Homefires Burning
A memory shawl

A birthday gift from mother to daughter. During our three-way chats, ideas emerged for a piece with strong, autumnal colours - brown, orange, ochre - representing a sense, and memory, of hunkering down in the colder seasons in front of an open fire in a former, beloved family home.
I used clasped weft to create the feel of flames. This technique also provides the opportunity for two different 'looks', depending on which way up the shawl is worn.

Made from: 100% Merino wool, Alpaca/Merino blend, undyed Merino (brown), plus my own handspun textured yarn and some up-cycled ribbon.
My daughter is over the moon! It's beautiful, Susan. Thank you so much. (Helen, Cornwall)
Lifescape Spectrum
A window seat cover
A Christmas gift from mother to son in his 21st birthday year. A fascinating, deeply personal weave, where each colour has a specific relevance to a young man's life. From a significant coat to a love of collared doves and trees, through an in-depth study of lichen, seaside memories and a favourite constellation. The colours taken as a whole represent current undergraduate spectroscopy studies.
The weft based weave creates strongly opaque colours, and a variety of textures are created by using different weights of yarn. Wensleydale locks and my own handspun bring further textures to the lichen and seascape sections.

Made from: British Blue Faced Leicester wool, Merino wool, Raw Silk, Mohair destined for landfill, and Alpaca from a local herd.

Thanks so much for beautiful spectroscopy weaving. A work of art. Stunning! (C C West Yorkshire)
I love it, and really appreciate the amount of thought that's gone into it. It means a lot and is beautiful." (M P West Yorkshire)
A birthday gift from daughter to mother. The brief
Wedding Weave
A traveller's shawl

A wedding gift in favourite colours. Elements of this weave were chosen to represent aspects of the client's character and her unique experiences travelling the world. Re-cycled Indian sari silk was used to create the border as a nod to her appearances in six Bollywood films! The handspun slubs that stream across the piece are testament to her never ending flow of creative ideas.
Made from: British Bluefaced Leicester wool with a touch of: Falkland Islands wool, recycled Indian sari silk, up-cycled ribbon and my own hand spun yarn.
We are both sitting here looking at the wonderful piece of art that you created for me and are completely in awe. To own something so fabulous is really special. I REALLY love itll! Thank you so much! (Chris, West Yorkshire)
Softly Autumnal
A baby blanket
A gift from a friend to a young couple with a five month old baby. The brief was for a blanket with autumnal colours, including texture - "something a bit different".
I had recently been lucky enough to work with alpaca fleece from a lovely local herd (in bottom left pic!) and was delighted to spin it and include the yarn, undyed, in this piece. Combined with beautifully soft merino for the body of the blanket, and some of my handspun including silk and bamboo for the deep border, the overall effect is of a very individual cosy wrap for a precious little one.
Made from: Local alpaca, Merino wool, bamboo, silk and coiled wool handspun yarn.
We are genuinely thrilled. It's beautiful, ideal, and we love it. A huge thank you! (Chris, Clare and Evie, Hampshire)
Heather
A couple's throw
A surprise wedding gift for a young couple. The brief was for a small throw/knee rug with pattern and texture in the colours of lilac/purple heather, connecting to Scottish family heritage. Woven in a 'Window pane" pattern, each side of the piece offers a different look. To highlight the paler colour, I included a darker shade of purple in the warp. Freshwater pearls were added on one side just above the short fringe to mark their nuptuals!
Made from: 100% re-cycled British wool (paler colour) and 100% British wool blend (darker colour).
I just wanted to say how perfect the throw was that you made. What a beautiful colour and the pearls are exquisite! The pressed heather too - what a special touch! They were bowled over by it ~ it means so much as it's so personal. Thank you! (Linda, Herts)
Working with you
The process
Consultation
A consultation with you in person or via Zoom/Skype where we discuss ideas, colours, yarns, patterns, size, what the piece represents, its 'feel' and some sense of the person or people involved.

A second consultation happens once I have sourced possible yarns. You then decide which ones you would like used.

I keep you up to date on progress made, including sending photos.
Sourcing
I explore potential yarns for the project e.g wool, silk, cotton, linen, alpaca, cashmere, tencel, bamboo, nettle...

I try to source as locally as possible and from suppliers with best animal welfare and environmental practices in place. Sometimes I source yarns from further afield, largely from women's collectives that ensure good working conditions, wages and fair trading.

I do not use mulesed* merino wool or buy acrylic yarn, but occasionally include re-cycled or re-purposed synthetic fibres.

* Mulesing is an intensely painful, inhumane process involving cutting off strips of skin around the hind quarters of lambs in an attempt to avoid fly strike. Australia produces a huge percentage of the world's merino wool. Mulesing remains widespread and legal there.

The weaving process
I currently work with two rigid heddle looms, a vintage 80's Ashford spinning wheel and a variety of drop spindles.

The process begins!
Pattern planning.
Warping and threading the loom.
Weaving.
Finishing - including: hemming, fringing (or not), washing, pressing.

Your piece is wrapped and prepared for posting.
Prices

The options for your piece will be discussed, carefully planned and priced accordingly, but here are some general guidelines.

Prices are inclusive of everything except postage (see below).

Scarves: start from:
£85 for e.g. 8"/20 cm wide x 55"/140cm long made with a British wool blend.
£95 for (same size as above) made with an inclusion of quantities of alpaca, silk, tencel.

Shawls/wraps start from:
£115 for e.g. 20"/50 cm wide x 65"/165cm long made with a British wool blend.
£150 for e.g. 28"/71 cm wide x 80"/203 cm long made with mix of e.g silk, alpaca, wool.

Weaving is a wonderful and involved ancient craft including several intricate processes. The cost of an individually designed, hand woven piece depends on many variables: size, types and combinations of yarns used, inclusion of home spun, specifically dyed, complexity of pattern, additions e.g. beads, pearls etc.

A piece made from or including cashmere or silk will be more expensive than one made from e.g a wool blend or cotton. In between lie e.g. heritage wools, alpaca, and plant based yarns such as linen, bamboo, banana and the Tencel fibres made from wood pulp.

Postage and Packaging

Packaging - I aim to use as much re-cycled and sustainable packaging as possible.
Postage - I use Royal Mail 1st and 2nd class post depending on your preference. Occasionally, Royal Mail's Special Delivery Services are requested.
Gallery
Click on an image to discover more stories and testimonials...
Who's enjoying Handmade in Helme?

Jewellery designer and maker, Victoria Phillips, of Silver Anvil Jewellery.

Newcomer, Baby O, with it all wrapped up.
Self-described, "obsessive gardener", Chris.
The late, truly great British actor, David Warner.
Actor and audio director, Lisa Bowerman.
Steph ... Retired and enjoying life.
Gardener, Charlotte ... "Windswept in Wellhouse" ...
Contact me

susan@handmadeinhelme.co.uk
Privacy Policy

I highly respect your privacy.

In order to respond to your enquiries through this website and to enable the services of Handmade in Helme, I will need to gather some personal information from you including some or all of the following: your name, email address, phone number, address.
Your personal data is stored for the purposes and processing of each project and for no longer than necessary.

This website does not share personal information with any third parties.
This website includes Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) enabling Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS).
This website does not use cookies at this time.
If you have any questions or concerns about your personal data you can contact me on susan@handmadeinhelme.co.uk

Weaving with you in mind

Threads of life stories hand woven into one-of-a-kind pieces...

Welcome

About me

The essence of the weave

Homefires Burning

A memory shawl

A birthday gift from mother to daughter. During our three-way chats, ideas emerged for a piece with strong, autumnal colours - brown, orange, ochre - representing a sense, and memory, of hunkering down in the colder seasons in front of an open fire in a former, beloved family home.

I used clasped weft to create the feel of flames. This technique also provides the opportunity for two different 'looks', depending on which way up the shawl is worn.

Made from: 100% Merino wool, Alpaca/Merino blend, undyed Merino (brown), plus my own handspun textured yarn and some up-cycled ribbon.

My daughter is over the moon! It's beautiful, Susan. Thank you so much. (Helen, Cornwall)

Lifescape Spectrum

A window seat cover

The weft based weave creates strongly opaque colours, and a variety of textures are created by using different weights of yarn. Wensleydale locks and my own handspun bring further textures to the lichen and seascape sections.

Made from: British Blue Faced Leicester wool, Merino wool, Raw Silk, Mohair destined for landfill, and Alpaca from a local herd.

Thanks so much for beautiful spectroscopy weaving. A work of art. Stunning! (C C West Yorkshire)

I love it, and really appreciate the amount of thought that's gone into it. It means a lot and is beautiful." (M P West Yorkshire)

Wedding Weave

A traveller's shawl

Made from: British Bluefaced Leicester wool with a touch of: Falkland Islands wool, recycled Indian sari silk, up-cycled ribbon and my own hand spun yarn.

We are both sitting here looking at the wonderful piece of art that you created for me and are completely in awe. To own something so fabulous is really special. I REALLY love itll! Thank you so much! (Chris, West Yorkshire)

Softly Autumnal

A baby blanket

A gift from a friend to a young couple with a five month old baby. The brief was for a blanket with autumnal colours, including texture - "something a bit different".

Made from: Local alpaca, Merino wool, bamboo, silk and coiled wool handspun yarn.

We are genuinely thrilled. It's beautiful, ideal, and we love it. A huge thank you! (Chris, Clare and Evie, Hampshire)

Heather

A couple's throw

Made from: 100% re-cycled British wool (paler colour) and 100% British wool blend (darker colour).

I just wanted to say how perfect the throw was that you made. What a beautiful colour and the pearls are exquisite! The pressed heather too - what a special touch! They were bowled over by it ~ it means so much as it's so personal. Thank you! (Linda, Herts)

Working with you

The process

Consultation

A consultation with you in person or via Zoom/Skype where we discuss ideas, colours, yarns, patterns, size, what the piece represents, its 'feel' and some sense of the person or people involved.

A second consultation happens once I have sourced possible yarns. You then decide which ones you would like used.

I keep you up to date on progress made, including sending photos.

Sourcing

The weaving process

Prices

The options for your piece will be discussed, carefully planned and priced accordingly, but here are some general guidelines.

Prices are inclusive of everything except postage (see below).

Scarves: start from:

£85 for e.g. 8"/20 cm wide x 55"/140cm long made with a British wool blend.

£95 for (same size as above) made with an inclusion of quantities of alpaca, silk, tencel.

Shawls/wraps start from:

£115 for e.g. 20"/50 cm wide x 65"/165cm long made with a British wool blend.

£150 for e.g. 28"/71 cm wide x 80"/203 cm long made with mix of e.g silk, alpaca, wool.

A piece made from or including cashmere or silk will be more expensive than one made from e.g a wool blend or cotton. In between lie e.g. heritage wools, alpaca, and plant based yarns such as linen, bamboo, banana and the Tencel fibres made from wood pulp.

Postage and Packaging

Packaging - I aim to use as much re-cycled and sustainable packaging as possible.

Postage - I use Royal Mail 1st and 2nd class post depending on your preference. Occasionally, Royal Mail's Special Delivery Services are requested.

Gallery

Click on an image to discover more stories and testimonials...

Who's enjoying Handmade in Helme?

Contact me

susan@handmadeinhelme.co.uk

Privacy Policy