Meet a Maker: Edition 19

Meet Shannon Bye and Be Agnew

1. What is your craft and how did you get into it?

Shannon (on the left in image above)
I started off with a degree in textile design with the intention to be a printer. However, when I touched a loom for the first time, I knew that was it. I went back and told my granny all about it and she shared with me her experience working in a cotton mill in Bolton as a young adult. It was obvious that textile loom work was in my blood. I studied at Norwich University Arts, where I was encouraged to go and look around all the museums and explore the local historic textile community. I always loved that historic part of weaving and how you can view textiles as original technology. When I moved for my husband’s work in the military, I discovered the Whitchurch Silk Mill. The mill combined both the historical and practical working side of weaving, which was perfect for my different loves around weaving. Despite missing the training application the first time I discovered the mill, I was able to become the Trainee Weaver Tackler and worked my way up to my current role as Heritage Weaving Manager.

Be (on the right in image above)
I studied textile design at London Metropolitan University. I remember deciding at age 15, when I was doing my GCSE textiles, that this is what I wanted to do. I love the exploration of fibers and play, and I’ve always loved painting. When I got to university and I started weaving, I loved converting my paintings into geometric grids and looking at colour and proportions. There’s something very satisfying about creating woven fabric from thread. I spent a lot of time thinking about the global textile industry, and was taught about sustainability and the confusing mess that is the textile industry. This made me reflect about what I want to make and why I want to make things when the impact of creation, like textiles, is so massive. During this creative journey, I enjoyed darning and spinning with the mindfulness of the beginning, middle, and end processes of creating. When I discovered mills, it was really exciting to make that connection between the clothes that we see around us and how they are made on a mass scale compared to hand weaving.

2. What is one interesting fact about you?

Shannon
I have a mill dog named Dexter. He is a border collie and he comes into work with me every day, and everybody adores him. A weird fact about me is that I used to play clarinet and was in a marching band.

Be
It’s not specifically about me but I think it is a cool connection. I have a Toyota car and apparently Toyota started out as Toyoda, which created looms. In 1892, Sakichi started a small factory in Tokyo’s Taito Ward that used several of the Toyoda wooden hand looms invented by Sakichi. So weaving has lots of connections in my life.

3. How long have you been making?

Shannon
I suppose I’ve been making for a very long time, starting as a kid with my grandparents. Both my grandmothers were more textile based makers who taught me the basics of knitting and sewing. I enjoyed making my own clothes when I was a teenager and feeling very proud of my circle skirts made from my grandmother’s fabric stash. I thought I was going to be a printer when I was in university, because we didn’t have a loom there. However, I was always very excited to try weaving. I have always been making stuff, which drew upon my creative side. I think because I’m dyslexic, I’ve always understood and been more inclined toward the hands on practical skills.

In regards to weaving, six months into the trainee weaver programme at the mill the pandemic happened and I had to work from home. It was challenging as I could not pack a hundred year old Victorian loom and take it home. Even if it could be done and I have the floor space, my ceilings are not tall enough for the machinery. It was a bit weird to hybrid of working between home and mill. I’d come in and learn the next step from my predecessor and then practice what I could at home. Four years later and I am still at the mill as the Heritage Weaving Manager and Be is my second Trainee Weaver Tackler that I am teaching.

Be
I’ve been working at the mill for nine months as Trainee Weaver Tackler, so it is still quite early in my weaving journey. However, I really like this question because I’ve never really thought about how long I have been making in general. My mom was a primary school teacher, so she always set us up with lots of creative things. I remember making for my bears and things, stitching patches on them. I’ve always just loved the satisfaction of stitching two pieces of fabric together and seeing where the project takes me. In university I was really stuck between knit and weave. I wanted to choose something that was very technical for my focus.

4. Who are your favourite makers in your craft?

Shannon
I’d say within our industry I love Gainsborough Silk Mill because they’re doing very similar thing to us. They’re silk weavers who use both modern and historic machinery. While we focus on stripes in our woven fabrics, they work with jacquard looms where they draw floral prints all over their woven materials. I went to visit them and their machines and visitor space are stunning. In terms of individual makers, Sheila Hicks is the first to come to mind. I went to Paris with my university, and saw Sheila’s work by chance on a free day. The Shelia Hicks exhibition centred around blowing up different textile techniques and elements on a massive scale. There were great big balls of fluffy yarn all over the place and card wraps that are literally the size of one of the looms. I felt submerged in the textiles and the large scale allowed one to truly see the intricacy of it.

Be
Since starting my training in silk weaving I have a big list of mills and silk related places I want to visit like Paradise Mill. When it comes to individuals, I like the tapestry weaver called Erin M. Riley. She makes contemporary tapestries inspired by memes and pop culture. I like her eclectic style and how she stitches together images. The exploration between digital era versus weaving is inspiring to me. Riley’s ability to engage in an old tradition like tapestry weaving with pop culture characters like Squidward is really fun.

Both Be and Shannon mentioned their love of Sam’s work at Woven in the Bone in Scotland.

5. What is the most challenging skill/technique you learned in your craft?

Shannon
I think one thing that can take a while to grasp is actually understanding why the machinery does what it does, like the lenos with the heddles. Different weaving techniques and loom elements take longer for varying reasons for different weavers. Additionally, when working with older machinery you could face an issue on a loom that could be completely new, because that specific aspect of the machine has decided to break after a hundred years of use. There is a lot of problem solving as you go. In regards to the process of weaving, the longest thing that takes anybody to learn will be the warping. There are so many steps to making the warp both physically and mentally with the calculations before you even touch any yarn.

Be
I agree with Shannon that tackling and warping are very challenging for weaving in a mill. So far I have found the role of Trainee Weaver Tackler to be varied in skills and projects. I’m trying to get better at managing my own time and my own space, because we might change week to week depending on the project at the mill. There are many elements to weaving and it’s working out how to split yourself amongst five different jobs at any given time. This could range from ten meters to do on short silk to better understanding how the looms works. There is real skill in timing when operating these older looms. I’m building up my confidence to act fast and develop muscle memory to create an instinct with the machines. It’s important, because if your timings are off, the shuffle is not going to go in the right place, and it will stop the loom.

6. What is your favourite part of your craft?

Shannon
I love taking a project from the begging digital form planning to the first moment that you physically see the weaving come out correctly on the loom. I like circling around a component for a project and problem solve all the issues out. I think my brain is constantly going and needs something to focus on. The planning and mulling on a project before it gets onto the loom allows me to think on one singular thing and keep my brain busy. Then to see that planning work come alive is amazing. To see people successfully start all the different processes before getting to the loom like winding the bobbins off the times I calculated makes everything feel like it is coming together. All of that processing at the beginning meant something, because its on the loom and working. That first visual of what the woven works will come out as has a real wow factor to it.

I was told when I first started weaving here (Whitchurch Silk Mill) it is either 90% boredom or 90% frustration. You’re either 90% bored because the loom is functioning, so all you’re doing is waiting for the weft to run out, which has a nice ten minute sweet spot. Then there’s 90% frustration because the loom isn’t working and you’re trying to work out why it’s not working. I would take the 90% boredom over the 90% frustration, but there’s a 10% sweet spot when the project is coming together.

Be
It’s really difficult to pick my favourite aspect of weaving in a mill, because I love all of it. I really enjoy conservation cleaning. I’ve never really done anything like that before and it’s opened up this whole world about conservation. I feel emotionally attached to objects and have a hard time throwing away scrap metal or pieces in the mill. So I find conservation as a lovely way to see and preserve the history in each aspect of the mill. I also tend to collect bits and bobs that would most likely go in the rubbish and find a way to incorporate them into something new.

Looking more broadly, I really enjoy talking to people that come and visit our workspace. When I talk to visitors, it feels like I’m experiencing the mill for the first time through their eyes. I love hearing different people’s views about the mill as it gives me a lot of perspective and gratitude for how much I enjoy my work.

7. What project are you most proud of and why?

Shannon
I am most proud of the ribbons the mill has made in collaboration with the Jane Austen House. It was a really complicated project that I was truly working out on my own without my mentor. I got to go to the Jane Austen House for research and inspiration and then designed the colours of the striped ribbons with the mill team. It was very challenging to map out, because we were planning 14 different ribbons that would share one loom. So even though it was on one machine, it had the mental math and planning of 14 individual pieces that all had to work together on the loom. It was really fun to create the colour blanket where I tested out different colour combination based on Jane Austen. I’ve always been a big fan of the author, which made the project even more exciting. Additionally, I am future proofing this method so people can follow it afterwards. This is our critically endangered skill and every time I work on this or show the ribbons, I know that we’re working on protecting that endangered skill.

Be
I am still early in my weaving career and therefore do not have a project I have completed from start to finish yet. In terms of projects the mill has done, my favourite one in the archives is the Spun Silk Twill Taffeta in Turtle, because I think it’s like an optical illusion when it’s draped. It is a gorgeous piece!

8. If someone who knows nothing about your craft could know one thing, what would it be?

Shannon
I hope people reading this interview come away with a bit more appreciation for textiles as it is the world’s largest polluters after the oil industry. This is partly due to the consumer culture that promotes one time use of textiles. I think part of this issue in the textile industry is that generally people don’t understand the process and work that’s gone into making a fabric or a garment. Take care of the textiles you have. Buy something you really care about and look after it. It is worth spending a little more on higher quality textiles (like our silk scarves we make), because they’ll last longer if you look after them.

Be
Machines are human operated and do not negate the human element to a craft, especially in textiles. Machine operated weaving is made by people. There might be some elements of machinery that can be programmed to run by itself when making textiles, but there’s always going to be people working behind the scenes that aren’t appreciated in the textile industry.

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