How We Make Our Blankets

The Fibre

We use superfine English Lambswool at 21 microns and ringspun, organic, North American cotton in our blankets. Our cotton is Texas-certified 100% organic from Payne Farms in Texas, and ring spun at Hill Spinners in Thomasville, North Carolina.

About Shuttle Looms

The industrial shuttle loom was the first of the industrial loom inventions beginning at the late part of the 19th century. These looms create the same fabric a hand weaver does. Only a shuttle loom has a continuous weft thread as it circles the edge until the bobbin runs out and the thread is hand crossed at that point to create a seamless weft.

The next phase of loom design was the rapier loom and similar versions which are used today in Asia and even American “traditional” mills that have similar high production quotas The thread is retrieved in the middle of its trajectory and pulled across but the thread is cut at each end so the sides are either frayed, hemmed, or heat sealed or tucked under. The weave is not a continuous thread which creates the true selvedge edge. This is the reason that the revival of selvedge denim has been received so well and perhaps the reason the textile arts quarterly from London has chosen the title Selvedge. The selvedge can only be achieved with an antique shuttle loom.

Our other machinery includes pirn winders to wind the wooden bobbins, perhaps the only existing Charlesworth warper manufactured around 1899, a Whitely cone splitter from 1905, and three English Dobcross looms built between 1936 and 1950.

Finishing the Blankets

All our blankets are individually finished and pressed here. Wool is a live fiber described as a cuticle. It is held together by sulfhydryl bonds which are broken with heat and slight alkalai. This is done by scouring, and fulling (or felting). The pure cotton blankets are preshrunk. The fringe is finished and cut. Each blanket is individually pressed with a tailor’s iron.

Packaging

We use minimal packaging material and all our packaging comes from 100% recycled paper fiber and all of it is 100% recyclable.