BAND OF WEAVERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21118, 27 February 1932, Page 6 (Supplement)

BAND OF WEAVERS.

WOMEN STILL SPIN. LOOM, SPINNING WHEEL, DISTAFF. Loom, spinning wheel, distaff and warping mill are still to be found in London being plied by women weavers and spinners, who make beautiful tissues for the trains of debutantes making their first bow, homely linens, tapestries and cloth of gold for the decoration of cathedrals and public buildings. To this band of weavers, come enthusiasts of all ages to learn the secrets of the craft. It takes about three months to learn the general technique for all ordinary work, such as homespuns and dress silks, and a student is then fit to set up as a weaver on her own account.

It is a business in which there is plenty of scope, especially in country towns, and it has a particular appeal for the girl who is keen on hard work and does not want to leave her country home. After three months' training, she will need to spend from £3O to £4O on a loom and other implements, and this sum will allow for materials for making up the first batch of goods to let people see the kind of work she does.

During the first few months, while she visits the local tailors, whom she will probably find excellent customers, and the residents are finding her shop, she will gradually bo recovering her initial expenses. After six months, however, accounts should begin to show a comfortable profit. Vegetable dyeing will be among the subjects she is taught, and in this branch a good sense of colour is invaluable.

Two friends working together—the one an artist and the other a good business woman—form a profitable combination in this kind of work, for the tailor wlio sends you an order for so many yards of material to be delivered at a given time does not want to bo kept waiting; and the artistic girl is often rather shy in trying to sell Iter own products. After a while it is possible to do more elaborate work, such as tapestries for architects. Altogether a practical and attractive job for a girl with plenty of enterprise and little capital.