The installation, Ethel Mairet’s Workshop, was co-created by Eva Hudson, Jackie Bennett, Josephine F. Dickinson, Melanie Hodge, and James Shreeve, and facilitated by the fantastic museum team. Many thanks to sound artist Mark Vernon for permission to use his recording of the Sri Lankan weavers at work.
Transcript: A Typical Day at Gospels
Welcome to Gospels, the Ditchling workshop of weaver and dyer Ethel Mairet.
A black and white photograph shows one of Mairet’s assistants at work; she stands in the centre of the image, leaning over a wooden loom; she works with her hands, concentrating on her task. Her loom has a top beam and smaller wooden beams suspended from it; They remind us of puppets on strings. They pick up different parts of the warp, which is the lengthwise threads that are held stationary in tension on a loom, acting as the foundation for the fabric. Round balls of yarn, called Skeins, are hanging over the top beam. Mairet’s workshop is bathed in natural light from large windows behind her assistant. It is full of textiles, looms and tools: rugs, cushions, tablecloths, samples and finished items fill the space; there are baskets of wool on the floor. In the photo, some objects are in sharp focus and others are blurred. We get an impression of clutter, busyness and bustle. We notice a pale coloured woodspinning wheel in the foreground, just behind a table crowded with jars, pots and hand tools. A large bunch of flowering grasses stands in a vase on the table. We imagine that the smell of their blooms mingles with the wet-wool smells of fabrics and the pungent smells of the dyes. A balcony runs across the top third of the photograph; Various textiles hang over its wooden banisters. We are drawn to a large cloth with a striking geometrical border in strong shades of black and white.
The workshop was always buzzing with activity, as hundreds of aspiring weavers and dyers passed through over the years, learning alongside Mairet as apprentices and assistants.
The sounds of the looms come from above you. These are from a different workshop than the one in front of you.
There is a fast rhythmical sound, clunking and continuous,
clattering and controlled; as the shuttle goes back and forth; back and forth; two clicks and a clack; two clacks and a click; six beats like a song; then a pause as adjustments are made, tools gathered, machines tightened; then off again like a train: two clicks and a clack; two clacks and a click; six beats like a song. In the background there is a quieter kind of whirring pushing sound along with the soft voices of the women of the textile workshop. Mark Vernon made this recording of Naya, Chanda, Sunanda, Amara and Siya in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka producing their fabrics on wooden hand operated looms in November 2013.
Ethel Mairet’s workshop housed several looms, and the air would have been filled with the rhythmic clack of shuttles – like the one you can touch in front of you- passing through them.
Try running your hands across the shape of the weaving shuttle. We think it feels like a tiny double-ended canoe with an oval window in the middle. It has a smooth, silky texture and fits nicely between your hands. It is slightly shorter than a 30cm ruler. It is made of wood, in warm yellowy-orange hues of sycamore and honey. It feels waxed or varnished; maybe worn over time, smooth and satisfying to hold. It has two disks on the bottom and rolls from side to side. We think it is very functional, but also beautiful. This shuttle was used to carry the weft thread, the horizontal threads that are woven over and under the vertical threads, back and forth, building up the fabric by interlacing the threads together.
Work began around 9am, with the stove already alight, an array of pots bubbling on top. Some contained dye baths with wool, while one often held the stew for lunchtime.
Weavers worked all day, creating cloth for Mairet’s Brighton shop or making one-off cushions and scarves. Every piece was made by hand, resulting in truly unique textiles.
Transcript:
Touch and Smell the Materials Found in Ethel Mairet’s Workshop
Line drawings depict three plants used to make dyes. You can smell the distinctive smell of each dye, in the canisters in front of you.
Plant 1/Canister 1:
Woad is a flowering plant, used to make blue dye (indigo). The long stems have arrow-shaped leaves, which have pungent, sludgy smell with hints of cabbage. The blue colour comes from the leaves, not from the lemon-yellow clusters of small four-petalled flowers that arrive in early summer.
Plant 2/Canister 2:
Yellow dye was made from the flowers of a different yellow-flowered plant – Gorse. The colour is warm like a sunflower. These tiny orchid-like flowers nestle among needle-like leaves on the long spiny stems. The flowers have a subtle, sweet fragrance with hints of coconut, vanilla and almond.
Plant 3/Canister 3:
Used to make red dye, madder has long, dark green spreading stems, with tiny yellow flowers that sit amidst diamond-shaped leaves. However, it is the roots that contain the red pigment that makes the colour. They are a rusty colour, that reminds us of fire ants. They are long and pointy, like witches’ fingers. The madder roots have an earthy, rich and rounded smell.
Explore six fabrics created in Ethel Mairet’s Workshop
Beige and black undyed wool
Black and beige wool alternates to form a rough textured bumpy background, it reminds us of honeycomb on the front, or an orderly flock of sheep. On the back the dark colour is raised, sort of snaking along and then back again. The beige is British wool dyed with cutch – a natural dye derived from Acacia trees, which are not generally found in the UK.
Checked silk and wool
This is a less heavy-weight fabric, and it is quite soft. It is a vibrantly coloured chequered plaid pattern, with lemon yellow, a warm red, a bluebell blue, cream and black colours, running horizontally and vertically. We imagine it as a child’s dress in the 70s, or perhaps a fun skirt now. The fabric has a mixture of tensions. It is quite satisfying when you pull the cream lines, and they stretch out and then bounce back into shape. You sometime get modern scarves that play with mixtures of tension.
Red striped silk and wool
This fabric we imagine as curtains. It is nice and soft, with vertical stripes, with a wide terracotta red, and a thinner dark brown edged in a thin gold colour. When we get closer to the dark brown we wonder if it is more grey or black, because there are hints of the white thread showing through the black weave. But actually, as we hold it to the light, the colours change, it feels quite three dimensional. We think that the weight of the fabric makes it more summery, but the colours have an autumnal richness to them.
Black striped silk and wool
It’s got a black background with a fine white stripe going through it. But the major feature are these little orderly spaced, rectangular blocks of colour that run down the fabric. These blocks are softer to touch than the rough black background. There’s acid yellow, brick red, a natural white, and a pale grey-blue. They are silk noil , and are called ‘’floats” – little sections that have come above the background weave. The lines of the blocks of colour make us think of traffic lights, but without a green for go!
There is less texture on the back, but the colours still run in those lines down the fabric. It is a thick fabric that reminds us of the type of upholstery used on the London underground train seats.
Cream wool with stripes
What strikes us most about this fabric is the raised cream loops. These sit on long stripes of cream wool which are cut by black threads into a long row of little squares or rectangles. It is a softer wool, we think of alpaca or cashmere. Those loops make us want to fidget with it. We imagine it as curtains with a cat climbing up it. We like the subtle variety and contrast in the colours.
Cream wool and brown linen
This reminds us of shades of dark, milk, caramel and white chocolate. A mid-brown, raised yarn zigzags across this striking fabric. We notice that the brown is a very uniform colour, this is because the yarn has been dyed. The main fabric feels very itchy, but the brown zigzags are softer. We feel bumpy twists of exposed yarn, like dots of icing on a cake. The background weave is a checkered pattern with subtle brown linen stripes alternating with cream wool. In the other direction we notice darker and paler stripes where the warp shows through the weft.
Transcript: Weaving Techniques used at Gospels – Plain Weave
3 black and white diagrams provide enlarged illustrations of the patterns made by the warp and weft threads. The horizontal black threads represent the warp, and the vertical white threads represent the weft.
Plain Weave
Plain weave is a basic weave structure where the weft threads pass, using a shuttle, alternately over and under the warp threads. This creates a simple, balanced pattern like a chessboard. Equal interlacing results in a strong, durable fabric with a smooth surface. It is commonly used for a variety of textiles due to its straightforward design and versatility.
Alternate the weft thread over and under the warp threads, then push up each row tightly against the previous one. Feel the regular over-and-under pattern you have created. Move to your right to discover twill and basketweave.
Transcript: Weaving Techniques used at Gospels – Twill
Twill weave is a textile pattern where the weft threads pass over and under the warp threads in a staggered, offset manner, creating a diagonal ribbed texture. The white threads look like notes on a rising musical scale as they move across the black background. This structure allows for more flexibility, durability and drape compared to plain weave. Twill fabrics are often softer, more resistant to wrinkles and have a distinct visual appeal due to the diagonal lines formed. Common examples include denim and tweed.
Pass the weft thread over one or more warp threads, then under two or more. Shift the pattern with each row to create a diagonal effect. Feel how this texture differs from plain weave (to your left) and basketweave (to your right).
Transcript: Weaving Techniques used at Gospels – Basketweave
Basketweave is a variation of plain weave where two or more warp threads are paired with two or more weft threads, creating a textured, grid-like pattern that resembles a woven basket. Threads cross over each other in pairs, creating a wicker-work effect. This structure results in a thicker, more flexible fabric with a distinctive square appearance. Basketweave is often used in textiles like upholstery and clothing, offering durability and an appealing, even texture.
Group two or more warp threads with two or more weft threads. Alternate passing the weft over and under the grouped threads, creating a grid-like texture. You can compare basket weave with twill and plain.
Intervention Design and Project Management: Barker Langham
Build: Reeves and Bond
Scent Development/Consultation: AVM Curiosities