weaving Archives - Angie Parker Textiles

What Do You Do With An Old Loom?

Peter Collingwood Original Macrogauze Loom in Angie Parkers Bristol Studio

The answer is of course, weave with it, because old looms are pretty sturdy things.

However, this isn’t just any old loom. It’s is the original Macrogauze loom engineered by one of the 20th Century’s seminal weavers, Peter Collingwood OBE 1922 -2008.

Macrogauze Artworks by Peter Collingwood OBE

A selection of the fruits of this loom, are pictured below; the unmistakable Macrogauze hangings. These were exhibited in the 2025 show at Margaret Howells London Store. A rare opportunity to view the work close up. Did you catch it?

Macrogauze textile artworks by Peter Collingwood at Margaret Howell store in London 2025 — Macrogauze Artworks by Peter Collingwood at Margaret Howell London Store.

The official Peter Collingwood archive is held at Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts in Farnham.

However, the contents of Collingwoods workshop and his collection of over 1000 books on weaving, plus a few other treasures are in my Bristol weaving studio.

I’ve had them for a few years now, although I knew I wasn’t really ready for the expansion when it first happened. It feels, at last, like I’m finally adjusting to the acquisition.

Macrogauze loom, warping mill and bobbins. Starting to look at home after a busy few years.

A Weaving Resource Centre in Bristol

I intend to share these specialist resources with those who might be interested, including and beyond my existing network. A long-term slow project.

This blog post is one way to spread the word and to discover if there is an appetite for a ‘weaving study centre’ in the heart of Bristol…

I want to build up a picture of who might want to know where the looms and books are for starters. ( I didn’t use the opportunity to connect with others during the Margaret Howell show but hopefully I can make up for that now).

One aim is to see looms (and books) being used to innovate and educate, and not simply replicate what has already being produced. (Although tempting, I have been reminded frequently that imitations would go against the Collingwood ethos).

Poignant handwritten quotes and newspaper clippings on the looms.

Conservation, Restoration and Innovation

Coincidentally and serendipitously, an old theatre friend (who conveniently retrained as a book conservator) visited my studio recently. We had an an enlightening conversation about just how far I could or should go in preserving the Collingwood looms and library.

He offered recommendations for preserving the newspaper clippings and notes on the loom. (pictured). The things that give it extra character. However I don’t believe the previous owner would be into this level of preservation. A photo record will suffice for now should any damage occur. (I’m interested in your thoughts about this too).

His suggestions for the long term care of the books is for another blog post.

Please get in touch if you’d like me to keep you in the loop regarding the future of these special old looms and if you’d like to be part of the conversation. ( I’ve not mentioned the other looms yet…)

In the Studio 2020
Photo: Alice Jane Hendy Photography

Angie Parker is a weaver, designer, colourist, instructor and unintentional archivist.

She trained in rug weaving and has been weaving krokbragd since the early the 1990s, but only started her textile practice in 2014 following a career in theatre costume. She hand-weaves rugs and wall-hanging in her Bristol studio. Occasionally her designs are produced in small batches through partnerships. Angie teaches when her sched ule allows. You will currently find her buried underneath 2 tonnes of rug wool. Sign up to her newsletter here, for updates once she emerges.

Textiles Treasures That Find Me…

How a remarkable vintage Swedish hand-written book landed in my lap.

Don’t judge a book by a very unassuming cover…

In the summer of 2024 I became the owner of the late Peter Collingwood’s collection of over 1000 weaving books and periodicals. (This followed the rest of the contents of his Nayland workshop but that’s another story).

It’s safe to say that I’m unlikely to run out of weaving books to read in my lifetime and really have no need to source anymore.

Some of my current book collection in it’s former home at The Old School Workshop in Colchester

However, when a chance conversation with a fellow guest at a friends wedding led to the topic of weaving, the eyes of my new found friend lit up. “I’ve a book that I think you’d like..”

She described the book and although I don’t remember the details of our conversation, (wine may have been flowing), I clearly showed enough interest that it was decided that the book (or textile treasure as I was soon to discover) was coming to me.

When I did finally lay eyes on this absolute treasure I couldn’t quite believe my good fortune.

It’s a privilege to add this textiles treasure to my weaving library.

Each draft is painstakingly hand painted

The intricate handwoven samples are exquisite

It is truly exquisite and I feel incredibly privileged that it’s now in my library.

Here’s what I know about the author so far:

Gundla Gustafson.
Born April 16th 1915 in Äsperöd, a small village 50 miles to the east of Malmo in Sweden.
One of 7 siblings, two boys, and five girls all of whom were trained weavers but she was the star.
She married in her late thirties, outlived her husband, lived on her own until she was 99 and then in a care home for 2 years and died aged 101.

What next?

I’m really looking forward to finding about more about Gustafson as her nieces widower has family records that I believe he is happy to share with me. I’ll update this post in due course.

When I set out in business I had no expectation that my job would ignite an interest in conservation and historical textile research. However, these happenstance acquisitions do suggest that the universe is sending me down this path don’t you think? I feel that opening a ‘specialist weaving resource centre’ for future generations might be moving up my ‘to-do’ list…

If this sort of thing interests you too, or you’d like to hear about opportunities to visit my studio and library please may I ask that you sign up to my mailing list and also drop me a short email. I’m currently tied up with weaving orders in the studio, but I’ll create a database with expressions of interest so I know where to find you when I’m ready for the next phase.

NEW BOOK-AVAILABLE NOW

KROKBRAGD Contemporary Weaver With Colour by Angie Parker

KROKBRAGD – CONTEMPORARY WEAVING WITH COLOUR. Order here.

How can you tell when a non-writer is writing a book? Take a look in their kitchen cupboards. (They’re likely to be suspiciously tidy!)

As part of a 2014 business training program by The Crafts Council, I was asked to write a list of career aspirational goals beyond my wildest dreams. Writing a book about krokbragd was not on that list!

However, ten years later…

Like most non-authors, writing a book on the topic I’ve been passionate about for over 30 years was something that sat in the periphery of my consciousness, alongside things like running a marathon, mastering the piano, and sustaining a crop of tomatoes. Challenging and fulfilling things things that I most likely won’t get around to in this lifetime.

But when I was asked by The Crowood Press publishers at the beginning of 2022 if I would write a book for them, the flattery overcame any resistance and I agreed to deliver 50,000 words and images by February 2024. This would give me two years from the start of the conversations. Ages! I’ll have it done in eighteen months…easily!

It turns out that I’m with Douglas Adams when it comes to deadline, as he famously retorted,

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by”.

Yes, the plan of suggesting a long lead time with the intention of delivering early was the sort of line that could win a prize at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for it’s ‘laugh out loud’ sheer idiocy. How a woman in her fifth decade still hasn’t accepted that tasks will always grow to meet the deadline is the second most surprising thing about this book. The first, is that it did in fact get finished as is now available to order through my website. Yes, I actually did it!

Image of the new krokbragd book by angie parker — KROKBRAGD – CONTEMPORARY WEAVING WITH COLOUR. Actually existing beyond the million files in my long suffering and now unrepairable laptop.

Writing the book was an interesting experience and I enjoyed most of it. I took some advice from writer friends and focused on small chucks and tried to be disciplined. (Well, apart from a bit of Tupperware sorting on occasion). The book itself follows a popular formula covering history, equipment, materials, technical skills, inspiration, planning design, colour, rugs, applications and projects. Actually finishing the book and getting it in the right shape to deliver to the designer, however, was a whole different skill-set and not one that was suited to my ad-hoc methods of working. But; I persevered, asked for help when I got stuck, and eventually the final red line went through the last item on the seemingly never-ending to-do list. The sense of relief overshadowing any feeling of achievement in that moment.

In between the lines (and the 400+ photographs) I now see the incredible talent of the designers and editor who created a beautiful layout from the huge number of files I sent to the publishers inboxes. I see the generosity of the books contributors and supporters, the teachers who passed on their weaving skills and the friends, family and colleagues who encouraged and supported me along the way. The acknowledgements on the back page was by far the easiest part of the book to write and I could probably have written another 50,000 words on that. (And yes, I’m sorry for everyone that I missed out!)

So, here it is. A hardback book about contemporary krokbragd weaving, with my name and designs on the cover. It’s quite surreal and I’ve a new level of respect and admiration for anyone who has ever written a book before, and I’m in complete awe of those who do it for a living.

KROKBRAGD – CONTEMPORARY WEAVING WITH COLOUR has been on sale to pre-order from November 2024 and is now available for next day dispactch from my online shop. All the details are here.

And for those who ask if it’s something I’d do again? I think I have some weaving to be getting on with for now…

Would you like 2 tonnes of wool with that?

When the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase the entire contents of the Collingwood rug weaving workshop came up, my gut instinct, without much hesitation, was to snap it up.

Admittedly, the UK’s most prominent and successful rug weaver, Jason Collingwood, announced his retirement a little sooner than I had expected. I wasn’t quite ready, but it was only a ‘small’ matter of logistics.

I simply had to move three full-size looms, all the additional equipment, and approximately 2 tonnes of yarn from Nayland in Colchester, to my shared studio space in Bristol. Only that! Oh, and the sampling loom made from a piano! Fortunately, the reality has allowed this to happen in stages, so much less overwhelming.

Three looms in the Collingwood workshop-Nayland. Photo: Theo Rooden

Serendipity

There were signals from the onset that this was the right move.

Firstly, I’d set my heart on one day owning the Harrisville shaft switching loom after weaving a rug on it in 2014. I voiced this intention at the time, and possibly a few times since, which put me at the top of the list when Jason decided to sell up. (Does anyone reading know if there are any more of these looms in the UK?)

The fact that I could make the figures work was obviously the biggest factor.

Initially, I expected to move my workshop to new premises for more space. However, in a serendipitous twist, the two adjoining spaces in my studios became available (was it something I said?), and I was able to expand without having to move.

It’s a bit of a squash and a squeeze and it certainly ain’t ‘Instagram pretty’, but it’s working for me and I love being at BV Studios. I can walk to work and it’s filled with so many amazing artists and friends.

Closing a chapter and cobwebs

The move is taking longer than originally estimated, but personally, I think this is better than an abrupt end to this chapter. There’s so much weaving history and some incredible cobwebs in The Old School and I’m conscious to be respectful of what came before. Two more trips should cover it though and I’ll miss my 24-hour mini-breaks driving a white van.

In the meantime, I’m knuckling down to some intense core strengthening and some hardcore rug weaving. And whilst I’ve no inclination, nor the skill set to emulate the prolific business model used by the looms previous owners, I do have productivity targets that require an improved level of stamina and endurance. (Note to self-Time to Plank).

Insane or savvy?

And the wool… Yes, let’s not gloss over the wool-shaped elephant in the room. A wise friend advised me not to go near it, but I’m trusting my gut instincts as they’ve served me well so far, and a deal’s a deal.

One section of the wool storage in the Collingwood workshop.

That said, my inner critic is screeching expletives on a regular basis about the ridiculous amount of yarn I’ve just transported across the country. Luckily, my inner advocate is louder, and I’m reminding myself that I now have the option to grow my business without buying new raw materials…ever again!

I’ll also try to sell what I don’t need over the coming months so drop me a line if you’re in the market for some good quality sustainable wool.

Life is a fairytale…by the brothers Grimm. Illustration: Vera Southgate

Yes, right now I feel I’m playing all the key roles in a weaving version of Rumpelstiltskin, although fortunately, no infants need to change hands in return for weaving this heap of wool into rugs.

There’s plenty more to share about my plans for this unusual business move. It feels nuts to be surrounded by more wool than I’m ever likely to weave, and so many looms.

However, it also feels right that this special collection of looms is staying together for the time being, and I’m looking forward to the time when I can open my studio doors for other weavers to use them, while I (to coin someone else’s phrase), pick up the baton to take on the world…one rug at a time. That should be shuttle really, shouldn’t it?

Angie Parker Phtoto: Alice Hendy Photography

Angie Parker is a weaver, designer, and colourist, based at BV Studios in Bristol. She trained in rug weaving in the 1990s and started her textile practice 8 years ago. Subscribers to her newsletter are the first to see new designs and also get access to special offers and exhibition news. Sign up here to keep in the loop.

Do one thing today…for better mental health

There’s really no need to point out that this year has been challenging for everyone, in varying degrees, and as we approach World Mental Health Day on 10th October, there’s never been a better time to shine a light on the work of MIND – the mental health charity. They are actively trying to help those who are suffering from new or worsened mental health problems as a result of the pandemic, as well as campaigning relentlessly to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding.

Charities have been dealt a double blow this year. Demand for their services has increased significantly and fund raising opportunities have been scaled back for obvious reasons. Whilst I can’t fix the negative impact of COVID-19, I can make a small change to the way I sell my luxury woven textiles, and the decision to donate 10% of the profits from sales of The Bristol Blanket to MIND works for me on a few levels.

I could have done this privately of course, but I’m making the donation part of the story for a few reasons. The main reason is that I think that now, more than ever, we need to keep the conversation about mental health at the top of the list. I’ve no specialist experience in this area, but I do know that things need to change with attitudes and the way many of us handle this part of our lives.

Another reason is that it’s slightly unsettling to have a business that’s doing okay when so many industries and individuals are suffering this year. (Rest assured, I’m thankful). Making this one change means that not only can I see a percentage of my profits go towards helping an organisation that can make a real difference, but it’s also helping my own mental well-being.

The Bristol Blanket. Photo: Article Studio

The Bristol Blanket is all about feeling good. The bright colours in this sumptuous lambswool blanket are designed to lift spirits and bring joy to homes. Inspired by the colourful Bristol houses which brightened up daily lock down walks, the blanket was created in partnership with Bristol Weaving Mill. The optimistic design reflects the connections with our neighbours and local community, which for many were strengthened during lock down. As an artist, I set out to design a textile that reflected the special bonds that formed from the shared experiences, in the hope that we continue to strengthen them and support each other more in the future. The response so far has been astonishing.

Available from www.angiepakertextiles.com

It’s a Bristol thing….. The Bristol Magazine October 2020

Saturday 10th October is World Mental Health Day and the message from MIND for this year is ‘Do one thing…for better mental health’. Whether it’s going for a brisk walk or doing something creative simply do one thing that improves your mental well being. There’s loads about it here.

Take me to the Bristol Blanket Shop

Angie Parker Photo: Alice Hendy Photography

Angie Parker is a weaver, designer and colourist, based at BV Studios in Bedminster. She trained in rug weaving in the 1990’s and started her textile practice in 2014. Her latest collection of handwoven designs and small batch produced textiles has been launched ahead of schedule in September 2020. Subscribers to her newsletter are the first to see new designs and also get access to special offers and exhibition news. Sign up here to keep in the loop.

Bristol Weaving Mill and Angie Parker Textiles

A micro-mill based in the heart of Bristol

Did you know that Bristol has a weaving mill?

Not only that, but a weaving mill that specialises in niche cloth production and that is a short walk from the City centre, (and conveniently for me, a 20 minutes walk from my studio).

I first heard about it when it was still a concept in 2014. I was a delegate at the ‘Loom’-A Textile Seminar, as part of the Stroud International textiles program. Chaired by Helen Foot, the seminar brought together a panel of contemporary weavers to discuss their woven production methods and how it affects their practices. The audience was a who’s who of established and emerging weavers, and the impressive lineup of speakers included Kirsty McDougall of Dashing Tweeds, and Franki Brewer, and Juliet Bailey, from renowned textile design studio Dash and Miller amongst others.

This was the first time I heard Franki and Juliet, the founders of Bristol Weaving Mill (BWM), talk about their dream and vision of creating a space where innovative fabric design could embrace traditional manufacturing processes. The result is a micro-mill based in the heart of Bristol which opened its shutters in 2015 and has since gone on to create some of the most exclusive, bespoke, and experimental fabrics imaginable for the international fashion and interior industries.

The first power loom in Bristol for 100 years

With such an amazing resource right on my doorstep, it’s no surprise that I’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity to work with this dynamic team since setting up my business. What I didn’t expect was that the perfect project would come about because of COVID-19. (More about that here).

Creating my new product with BWM during this global pandemic was remarkably straightforward. In part because of the location, but mainly because they are such a bloomin’ fabulously lovely, talented, and professional team. With safety at the forefront of our minds, most of the initial production planning was carried out via email, phone and zoom, as it would have been if I lived further away. But one huge difference was the rather happy coincidence that Rowenna, the Product Development, and Sales Manager, lives four minutes walk from my front door. Having the opportunity to meet face to face on those sweltering sunny days, even if it was in the street, was hugely beneficial when working through the samples and fine-tuning how to translate my handwoven designs to a power loom. As we didn’t have to rely on the postal service, it saved us days. I think we’ll all agree that as much as we’ve embraced the benefits of technology, nothing beats a real-life chat.

Inspiration for the new design was found in the colourful houses of Bristol which were saw on our daily walks during lockdown. — Inspiration for the new design was found in the colourful houses of Bristol which we saw on our daily walks during the lockdown.

I’m delighted to reveal the new collection and The Bristol Blanket woven in partnership with the BWM. The design for this luxurious and soft blanket is inspired by the colourful houses of Bristol which became a familiar and uplifting backdrop to our daily walks during the lockdown. (More about the inspiration here). The micro collection of handwoven rugs, woven art panels, and samples created in my workshop have informed the final design, and I love that we have a product that is typically Angie Parker, and typically Bristol! Head over to my online shop to discover more.

Angie Parker is a weaver, designer, and colourist, based at BV Studios in Bedminster. She trained in rug weaving in the 1990s and started her textile practice 6 years ago. Her latest collection of handwoven designs and small batch-produced textiles has been launched ahead of schedule in September 2020. Subscribers to her newsletter are the first to see new designs and also get access to special offers and exhibition news. Sign up here to keep in the loop.