Octogenarians And Still Weaving

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31117, 21 July 1966, Page 2

Octogenarians And Still Weaving

Once over the age of 80, most people would decide that this was the time to take things easy. But Miss Dorothy Wilkinson, aged 82, and Mrs Dorothy Brown, aged 84, would not agree. For them, life is still busy and active. From their respective London homes, in Chiswick and Chelsea, they go to business every day.

They put in a full days’ work, too; for they supervise a flourishing concern which, in 46 years, has never lost the personal touch —Kensington Weavers.

The name is known throughout the world for its quality fabric and for the school associated with it, the London School of Weaving. Both Miss Wilkinson and Mrs Brown supervise the everyday running, on both the creative and administrative side.

In 1918, Miss Wilkinson installed a loom in a room at the top of her home in Holland Park, London. Although her first ambition had been to become a concert singer, she finally felt it was not the career for her. And the intricacies of weaving soon absorbed her interest Became Authority A keen appreciation of good textiles and good design led her to master the basic techniques of weaving, and explore and adapt until she evolved her own technique. She soon became an acknowledged authority on the subject, and has lectured, advised, and written a book about it The Kensington Weavers began work in her home in 1920; and in 1922, she opened a shop in Bedford Gardens, Kensington, with her sister, where they sold fabrics and taught. Her pupils came from all over the world, and from all walks of life. (Some overseas visitors used to hire! looms while they were in London.) Her pupils came to study weaving as a hobby, or as a means of earning a living. For instance, it was Mrs Brown’s interest in weaving as a hobby which made her one of Miss Wilkinson's pupils, before she joined her as a partner in 1927. Mrs Florrle Moore came to Miss Wilkinson when she was 15, and still works for the partners. Now she has been joined by her children, and Miss Wilkinson talks of them affectionately as her “weaving daughter and grandchildren.” The Kensington Weavers

finally settled where they are today—in a tall, narrow house in London's elegant Kensington Church street—when, in 1932, the London School of Weaving joined the firm. Inside the house, it is like a corner of rural England, at odds with the jet-age traffic outside! There are looms and spinning wheels, some old, some new. Bales of fabric spill their soft texture and subtle colours over shelves alongside the skeins of wool and large bobbins used in weaving. The top floors are given over to the school, where students get completely individual attention—one teacher to each student. Miss Wilkinson still teaches here, and hopes to do so for many years to come. Looms And Fabrics On the ground floor is the office. And this is the province of Mrs Brown. Parcels are labelled for dispatch to all parts of the world, including New Zealand, Ceylon and Saudi Arabia. They contain looms, as well as fabrics, and some of the names on the labels are very well known names indeed. The school carried out a big contract to the Ceylon Government for looms and spinning wheels. The Kensington Weavers’ fabrics are made into ties, stoles, and headsquares and

sold all over the world. They take individual orders, large and small, and there have been some exciting commissions.

At this year’s Furniture Exhibition in London, held at Olympia, one of the star exhibits, a round chair designed by Thornton and Sandberg was covered with one of their fabrics.

They also made a curtain for the Royal Festival Hall, London, to replace one which had been lost. This entailed copying the existing curtain in every detail, matching texture and colouring exactly. Miss Wilkinson has woven electric filament flax into material to make heating panels for railway carriages. And during World War II she received a summons to the Admiralty, where she was asked if she could make gold lace for naval uniforms!

Most of the gold lace had been made in France, and the warehouses holding stocks of it near London had been destroyed. Although she had never made such a thing before, Miss Wilkinson took a small length to unravel to find out how it was done, and then produced what was required. Special looms were installed in the school for the purpose. Spinning Chorus But perhaps one of the most unusual jobs of all was to teach the Chorus of Spinners taking part in a performance of “The Flying Dutchman" at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, how to spin! Within the last two years, Miss Wilkinson has made two trips abroad. One was to Greece, where she went (at the age of 80) under the auspices of the North European Relief Committee to teach Grecian peasant women quicker techniques so that they could alleviate their poverty, by increased production. The other visit was to the United States and Canada, in which countries she undertook a teaching tour to impart these speedier techniques. With the zest and enthusiasm for life and for work that both Miss Wilkinson and Mrs Brown display, age today is obviously no barrier to what can be maintained and achieved.