Research: Norwich Fabric | Project Zeeuwsmuseum

Remi Veldhoven, is a textile designer and textile researcher from the Netherlands. She is researching a fabric from around 1750-1800 which was used in traditional clothes in the Netherlands, and produced in the Norfolk area (mostly Norwich), England.

She is working with the Zeeuwsmuseum (Middelburg, the Netherlands)  who will be having some garments made out of this Norwich fabric and they are planning to make an exhibition about this fabric in May 2019.

For this exhibition Remi Veldhoven has been asked to research the production process of the Norwich fabric and to design a new fabric inspired by the old one, using industrial production methods.

From the old fabric, she knows the different steps of the process (a document outlining this can be sent), and for the new fabric she would like to design a similar fabric and compare the industrial production steps, time, costs and people involved with the obtained data and characteristics of the process from the old fabric.Remi would like to produce the new fabric in England and in the Norfolk area if possible.
Initially she would like find an industrial  spinning company which produces a wool yarn dyed with natural dyes, since the original old fabric was also dyed with natural dyes.

Following this she would like to produce some samples with this yarn and finally produce a fabric 18 inches wide and 30 yards long on an industrial jacquard loom. These were the sizes of a piece back in the old days.

The fabric has to be made out of wool (worsted, long stable), have 7 different colours in total (1 in the warp and 6 in the weft) and a jacquard weave with a repeat of 15 inches wide and 30 inches long (this repeat size is an estimation, she still has to figure out the exact sizes).

After the fabric is woven she would like to find a finishing company who can wax the fabric so it obtains a shiny effect (probably with heat, pressure and beeswax). More technical details, such as threads per inch in weft and warp, can be sent.

Naturally the companie/s will be paid for the work they perform

Questions for The Weave Shed Readers

• Does anyone know of any English/Norfolk industrial wool-spinning companies that dye their yarns with natural dyes, or a natural dye company who could dye the yarns once sourced?
• Does anyone know of an English/Norfolk industrial wool jacquard weaving company who can produce small amounts  and samples?
• Does anyone work with an English/Norfolk industrial finishing company who could perform the glazed effect?

Please contact Remi remiveldhoven@gmail.com directly if you have any information for her.

Also in the spirit of free share -  any companies/suppliers etc please can you let The Weave Shed know details for their resource pages please info@theweaveshed.org.

Text and image: Remi Veldhoven