The Textile Trust is home to two collections: a library of books and publications, and the textile collection.

We are extremely fortunate to have a volunteer, Mary, who looks after the textile collection. Each week Mary comes into the studio and sits quietly, sewing labels onto fabrics and costumes before putting them away neatly on shelves or in boxes. The result is a wonderful display of order, as you can see from the photograph above. It is a Big Job but it is fun to uncover treasures that have been under wraps for many years.

Another volunteer, Karen, over in Canada, undertakes research into the pieces in the collection. This research and the document that Karen produces will go onto the website in a place to be determined.

The library is not quite so fortunate. There are ongoing attempts to sort it into a coherent collection and to put all the publications onto a database but the work is slow, partly because there are some very useful and curious books in the library and they MUST be read immediately. Now we are looking for someone to help with this work. If you have a few hours to spare and you like to organise and sort, this may be the opportunity for you!

Volunteers are welcome at the studio. We provide tea, coffee, juice and biscuits plus conversation and a warm space to work in. If you fancy doing some work with us send an email and come in for a chat.