September 2024 News Post

September 2024 News Post
September 24, 2024 humphriesweaving

Key word: Bespoke Fabric

 Bespoke Fabric for the Restoration of Sherborne House

Humphries Weaving is delighted to share our role in the restoration of Sherborne House, a Grade I-listed Georgian mansion located in Dorset. Collaborating with Stonewood Builders and Spase Architects, we provided historic consultation and bespoke fabric, ensuring that the mansion’s interiors were restored to their original grandeur. Sherborne House, managed by an independent charitable trust, serves as a venue for hospitality events and arts programs, offering the public access to its history, including the renowned Sir James Thornhill Mural.

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The Hallway prior to the restoration

Bespoke Fabric Creation for Sherborne House

For the restoration of Sherborne House, we created bespoke fabrics, woven and custom-dyed to complement the mansion’s Georgian interiors. With no original fabric remnants available for replication, Humphries Weaving worked closely with the project teams to produce historically appropriate, custom-dyed fabrics using our archive of Georgian textiles and designs. The result was two distinct fabrics, each crafted to meet the unique demands of the project.

The Hallway

In the Hallway, a striking crimson was chosen for our Caroline Damask from our archive of designs. This design, dating back to the early 18th century, was redrawn by Humphries Weaving from King George II’s bed at Hampton Court Palace. For this project the scale chosen was inline with period widths, this brought the scrolling leaves to life and effectively an opulent Georgian Hallway.   The colour was period appropriate and custom dyed for the project. We used our period colour archive to ensure that colour was period appropriate.

Close up of weaving the Caroline Damask

The Hallway in Crimson Caroline Damask

The Georgian Room

In the Georgian Room, we produced a bespoke-dyed moiré fabric. This luxurious textile, in an elegant champagne tone, was woven using a Repp weave and pressed with our specialist moiré machine. This machine, which creates a stunning, uncontrolled water-like effect, is a rare tool, and we are proud to be the last mill in the UK able to apply this service within our vertical mill. The unique moiré fabric produced for Sherborne House uses the same technique for creating textiles for the Cumberland Gallery at Hampton Court Palace.

Custom-dyed linen weft coming out of the dye vat & custom-dyed Champagne silk warp at the back of the loom.

Prior to Moiré finish, a silk and linen Repp weave.

Close up fabric after Moiré finish

As one of the few remaining vertical textile mills in the UK, we offer a unique service, with the ability to custom-dye yarn on-site. This level of control over the dyeing process allows us to ensure the highest quality and precise colour matching for all our bespoke fabrics, a rare service in the UK textile industry. Our involvement in this project reflects our commitment to preserving traditional craftsmanship while embracing sustainable practices that meet modern standards.

Custom Dye process for The Hallway

Industry Recognition Expertise in Georgian Textiles and Historic Fabric Recreation

Humphries Weaving remains a leader in the creation of bespoke fabric for period properties and historic restoration projects. Our extensive knowledge of Georgian textiles, paired with sustainable practices and the highest OEKO-TEX accreditation, positions us as the first choice for clients seeking to recreate or restore historic interiors. The Sherborne project showcases our commitment to preserving the past whilst crafting a vision for the future, and the restoration has been shortlisted for multiple national awards, including the prestigious Georgian Group Awards 2024. It has been an honour to work on this project and preserve The Sherborne for years to come.

This prestigious project is now featured on our Historic House Projects page. If you are undertaking a restoration project that requires bespoke fabric or expertise in period textiles, we would love to hear from you.

Start your journey with Humphries Weaving today by getting in contact with a member of our team.

Project reference: 4866