Weaver sews up new career after scooping £18,000 grant (From Dorset Echo)

Weaver sews up new career after scooping £18,000 grant

3:30pm Monday 7th January 2013 in News By Rene Gerryts

WEAVER Andrea Cunningham has a new career sewn up after scooping a £18,000 grant after being made redundant.

The 51-year-old took a closer look at her mother’s old weaving equipment after losing her job with Dorset County Council.

Despite thinking weaving boring in the past she has now set up her own enterprise, Jacdor Wool, in a former cowshed in Whitchurch Canonicorum.

And she has just taken delivery of a new larger loom, complete with computer, courtesy of an £18,000 Chalk and Cheese grant.

Andrea said: “My mum was a weaver.

“She passed away a few years ago but I still have all her equipment and I thought let’s just find out whether I’d be any good at it.”

Andrea learnt to weave and made contact with local wool producers, found out where she could get fleeces processed and applied for a Chalk and Cheese grant.

She has spent the last year developing products.

Andrea said: “I have been concentrating on products that really suit the fleeces because a lot of it is quite coarse.

“Mum was a very fine weaver and used to work in very fine silks and I used to look at it and say ‘how boring is that?’ but actually when you get into it, it isn’t.

“I call myself a brute force and ignorance weaver.

“That’s why the wool suits what I am doing and how I work.

“It is a fascinating craft and there are so many variations and directions you can go in.”

She added: “I was lucky to get the Chalk and Cheese grant. It has allowed me to develop the business a lot quicker and I have been able to buy a bigger floor loom with a computer attached.

“It is still handweaving but it makes it a lot easier and quicker.”

Visit Jacdorwool.co.uk for more details.