Textiles
Shetland is internationally renowned for its textiles and this zone follows developments from a barter system to a world-wide industry that has experienced many highs and lows.
Earnings from knitting oiled the Shetland economy, although merchants made the cash, not the women who produced it. Shetland textiles have been most successful when the outside world wanted them, and the industry has to cope nowadays with cheaper mass-produced alternatives. While the islands’ prestige weaving industry could not be saved, knitting is still practised, with knitters forming societies to promote their craft
You will learn about the skills needed to produce knitwear, and you can try your hand designing a Fair Isle jumper.
Themes include: Truck system, fine lace, Fair Isle knitting and weaving.
Highlights include:
- Great Exhibition shawl – Shetland lace was already a treasured possession of the British gentry when this shawl appeared in the most famous trade exhibition of the age, in 1851 in London.
- Fair Isle fashion – Pull open the display drawers to find the fashionable rayon jumper that won Jeannie Jarmson a national prize in 1931.
- Tweed sample book – Firms kept record of their pattern ranges, both to log their work and to help with repeat orders.