HOME PRODUCTION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 305, 26 December 1931, Page 4 (Supplement)

HOME PRODUCTION.

The members of the Canterbury Club were entertained recently by an exhibition of spinning and weaving given by Mrs. E. J. Chennells. Materials, and scarves that had been made by herself from unprepared New Zealand wool were exhibited by Mrs. Chennells. "The object of this demonstration," she said, "is twofold. First I want to impress upon you the simplicity of producing woollen homespun yarn from which all manner of useful and ornamental fabrics can be woven. Those yarns can be spun from the raw wool of the fleece, home-washed, home-dyed and home-carded with little effort." The speaker showed a pull-over which had been knitted from the raw wool, and although it had been worn for three years it showed no signs of wear. Use of the Hand-loom. "Secondly, and of more importance, is the hand loom," said Mrs. Chennells, "which should interest all who are keen to see an increase in the use of one of New Zealand's chief products—wool. With that loom can be made an endless variety of fabrics with a diversity of patterns."

The loom, itself a work of art, was made by an Englishman, now resident in Christchurch, who has become interested in the work and made it in his spare time. That loom embodied the entire principle of the automatic loom of the woollen mills, but was worked on the simplest plan, eliminating all intricacies necessary for factory production. Mrs. Chennells demonstrated the weaving of wool into materials on the loom and members of the club were given the opportunity of practising both the spinning and weaving.