Allan Brown demonstrates the processes he takes nettle plants through, in order to extract a usable fibre for textiles. ‘Nettles For Textiles’ was shot and edited by Dylan Howitt.
The Nettle Dress – the Movie!
Allan’s nettle dress has been woven, sewn and is ready to be proudly presented to the world!
To see the movie in a cinema near you, please head over to “www.nettledress.org” to see the latest viewing schedule!
Can’t wait to get a glimpse? Have a look at the Nettle Dress trailer 🙂
Allan Brown’s Nettle Cloth is of the loom!!!
Dimensions: 20 x 2ft (6 meter x 30 c), weight 1.2kg …foraged Sussex nettles (Urtica dioica)
Nettle Dress Crowd Funding success!
An update from Dylan Howitt:
Thanks SO MUCH to the 190 people (and counting) who backed us and for all the shares and good wishes, we so appreciate it.
We can’t wait to share the film with you next year, but in the meantime and in celebration here is a sneak preview of
Allan Brown starting to wind the warp for the dress …
Nettle Fibre processing on the Antiques Road Trip
Brigitte of BeeKayMakes, a longstanding Nettles for Textiles member teaches the BBC presenter Catherine Southon how to make nettle fibre.
Catherine really enjoyed the Nettle Tweed shawl she tried on at the end 🙂
To watch the full program go to the BBC iPlayer, Antiques Road Trip, series 21, episode 21.
Wonna be in the movies? :)
Check out this exiting kick-start project for creating a documentary about creating an entire dress made from nettles! Featuring the founder of the @nettles4textiles group Allan Brown.
To read more in detail about the project click here to have a look at the kick-starter website.
Don’t forget to check out the fun rewards 🙂
Which time is best for foraging nettles?
Gillian Edom, the author of ‘From Sting to Spin’, kindly shared a table from her Mphil thesis on nettle fibre extraction about harvesting / foraging dates. Seems although there is not much difference in the yield, the fibres are easier to extract early in the season.
As with all foraging, only collect what you can process and consider the wildlife that feeds on nettles!
