Bristol-based natural dye studio, Botanical Inks, are launching the ‘Bristol Cloth’; a textile which will be the first locally-sourced and regenerative material produced in the UK.
A crowd funder has begun already; raising over £7000 in its first week. The dyeing production will start on 20 November, and the weaving will begin in January 2019.
The cloth’s wool is sourced from holistic eco-farm; Fernhill, which is just a few miles outside of Bristol. They mimic natural grazing patterns, this ensures that nutrients go back into the soil and gives the plants and soil time to regrow and regenerate. This captures the carbon from the air and locks it back into the soil.
Botanical Inks will dye the wool using non- toxic organic plant dye materials. The dyed material will then pass to the Bristol Weaving Mill, which is the first weaving mill in Bristol for 100 years. Here the cloth will be woven using a renovated 1985 loom, made by Dornier.
Babs Behan, founder of The Bristol Cloth said,
“Not only is it great to be producing the first Bristol Cloth from holistically farmed wool and organic plant dyes, but also that we are doing so in an area of Bristol which has a rich textile heritage.”
Both Botanical Inks and the Bristol Weaving Mill are both based in the Barton Hill area of Bristol, where The Great Western Cotton Factory was established in 1838. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel the factory employed 1000 people, many of them women, by the turn of the century.
Unlike the textiles produced in Barton Hill during the Victorian period, the Bristol Cloth will be made without any harmful chemicals and is therefore safe to go back into the ground at the end of its life cycle.
Babs said,
"What's missing from the fashion industry is a locally-sourced and manufactured cloth, which isn’t having a huge negative impact on the planet. We’re trying to give designers something to work with that is not only helping to maintain Britain’s artisanal heritage, but is also regenerating our land and natural resources.”
Babs is currently crowd funding for the project; having already raised £7000 to take the cloth into the first stage of production. She is working with Bristol based designers to provide a selection of rewards for anyone who helps to back the project. Brown In Town are offering tailor made mens jackets and suits, Jokoto Tailors have ladies kimono jackets and accessories and oB wear will have high quality, considered garments that shape with you as you change over the years.
Babs continued,
“It feels like the Bristol Cloth is a really beautiful example of what is possible when people come together sharing their passions to create something bigger than themselves”
You can find out more about The Bristol Cloth crowdfunded here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/bristol-cloth-1