News
October newsletter time... October 17, 2019 11:12
Our October 2019 newsletter introduces Jazz and the throws she is weaving for McLean & Co.
Wool, wool, wool.... October 4, 2019 12:50
Rod and I choose to weave woollen cloth. Wool is an exceptional fibre. A common fibre with superb attributes of being sustainable, resilient, absorbent, insulative, biodegradable, useful and reusable.#jazztheweaver September 22, 2019 21:14 1 Comment
Read about our trainee weaver Jazz, and her thoughts on working for McLean & Co. and what she has learned during the past few months.Shining on... August 24, 2019 19:26
It's twelve years and still Lachie shines on ...August 2019 Newsletter August 20, 2019 21:21
Crikey it's already August!! August 4, 2019 21:48 2 Comments
I can hardly believe it is already August!
August is a busy birthday month for us McLeans - there is me on the first, then our wee grandson George on the third, then his dad, our eldest son, on the 5th, then Rod on the 13th - then throw in a few extended family members and a couple of friends, and it's just party, party, party until September!!
It is around this time five years ago Rod and I decided to really give this McLean & Co. weaving business our very best so I resigned from my job as Art Technology teacher at Oamaru Intermediate School that December.
The last five years have been really full-on - firstly we had to make some money to live on while we got going, so I enrolled in a business course at Southland Institute of Technology and we lived on the student allowance for six months. Then we needed a website so I learned how to do that (with the help of a good friend who had created her Shopify website a few years previously). Then came marketing and social media, which involves constant attention, and is one of those things you just have to embrace or else you risk falling by the wayside. Then there is the accounting, taxation and regulatory side of things, customer relationships to develop and maintain, retail and trade challenges, employee/employer relations, and a host of other aspects to learn and assimilate into the business, and therefore our lives.
Oh, I forgot to mention, we actually design and craft our products ourselves, so there needs to be time to do that as well!!
Like many small (as in micro small) business owners we sometimes struggle to juggle - keeping all those balls in the air can be a bit of a mission. There is only us to do it all, and it certainly is a juggle, but juggle it we do, just like so many others who love what they do and why they are doing it.
By far the best thing about being in business are the many incredibly talented, dedicated and really amazing people we have met through McLean & Co. People who come from all walks of life, from all over the world; makers and those who support makers by appreciating and buying their wares; those with disposable income and those with limited dollars; those conscious of environmental and social issues, people who are passionate about wool and other natural fibres; those who have learned lots and are happy to share their knowledge with us, and those still with lots to learn and with whom we can share some of our learning. We feel extremely privileged to be on this journey, with our looms, with each other, and especially with all the wonderful people we are meeting.
This month Rod and I will be at the Home and Family Society market at the Addington Raceway on Saturday 10th. On Tuesday 20th we are speaking at a Wastebusters Alexandra/REAP sustainable business and living evening in Ophir, then on Saturday 31st we are heading off to Tarras to be part of a Tarras School fund raising evening. Then later in September we are off to Nelson where I am giving a presentation at the Costume and Textile Association of NZ symposium at the Suter Gallery. We are looking forward to all of these events where we will be meeting lots of new people, and sharing our passion for New Zealand wool, our Hattersley looms, the craft of weaving and our beautiful limited edition fashion and home wares - which Rod has woven and I have stitched!! Please come and say hello if you are at any of these occasions - it will be great to meet you!
Do we call it NZ Halfbred, Colonial Halfbred or Merino/Romney cross? July 22, 2019 10:16
Whatever you want to call it, we love Halfbred yarn. It's soft, durable, lively; a real pleasure to weave and wear. Halfbred growers tell us that they are kind sheep, with a good nature.
Here's a little bit of history for you...
The Halfbred, or ‘colonial’ Halfbred, sheep was one of the first crossbreeds specially developed for New Zealand conditions during the later 1800's. A cross between a Merino and a Romney or English Leicester, Halfbreds, like Corriedales, are a New Zealand breed developed to produce both wool and meat and are suited to hill and high country. Their wool ranges from 22 to 30 microns - coarser than most Merino but finer than that of breeds like Romney.
The Halfbred, or ‘colonial’ Halfbred, was bred in an attempt to retain the Merino’s wool quality, foraging ability and hardiness, while increasing its lamb production and improving its carcass conformation for the meat trade.
Eric Laurenson, pictured below on his farm in the Maniototo, who we buy our Halfbred yarn from was quoted as saying,
"Halfbred sheep will stack up against any other breed at the moment but he suffers from not having a decent name - no-one wants to be known as a halfbred, it's like being called a bastard. If we got Saatchi and Saatchi behind it and gave it flash name, we'd be away."
Whatever you are called, we love you!!
https://teara.govt.nz/en/sheep-farming/page-6
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/sheep/9132988/Halfbred-sheep-find-purpose-once-more
The Slow Fashion Movement July 16, 2019 18:48
People often ask "What is slow fashion?"
Quite simply, slow fashion is the opposite of fast fashion. Slow Fashion is an awareness and approach to fashion. It means you choose to buy less, purchasing better quality, classic pieces which add value to your wardrobe. It means making conscious and thoughtful decisions about what you choose to buy. It means making a stand for environmental issues by insisting on transparent and sustainable production processes that do not harm our Earth. It means protecting human rights by ensuring fair and ethical conditions and pay for workers.
McLean & Co. are committed to Slow Fashion. Our products are made from quality, sustainable New Zealand wool, using traditional weaving techniques and skills on our antique Hattersley looms. Our yarn is sourced locally, and processed by businesses who recognise their responsibility to the environment and their workers. We value fair treatment of people, animals and the planet. We take time to craft our woven and stitched products with crafted skill, time, integrity and most of all love and respect for the fibre we use and our beautiful old looms.
Slow fashion is about developing a cultural, emotional or social connection with your fashion or home wares purchase - and that is easy to do with a McLean & Co product!
If you are interested in finding out more about slow fashion, I found this great blog where I also found this quote from Kate Fletcher, who is widely credited with coming up with the 'slow fashion' term in 2007.
https://www.sloww.co/slow-fashion-101/
"Slow fashion is about designing, producing, consuming and living better. Slow fashion is not time-based but quality-based (which has some time components). Slow is not the opposite of fast – there is no dualism – but a different approach in which designers, buyers, retailers and consumers are more aware of the impacts of products on workers, communities and ecosystems…Slow fashion is about choice, information, cultural diversity and identity. Yet, critically, it is also about balance. It requires a combination of rapid imaginative change and symbolic (fashion) expression as well as durability and long-term engaging, quality products." — Kate Fletcher
Our very first newsletter! July 13, 2019 19:08
Our very first newsletter is finally published!North & South Magazine article by Sue Hoffart June 28, 2019 13:11
As men of a certain age turn to Lycra and road cycling, Rod McLean prefers a little more sartorial elegance while pedaling his antique Hattersley loom.
Read this article by Sue Hoffart which featured in the North & South magazine in October 2018.
Thanks Sue for your superb writing.
Go Sweet Spot May 28, 2019 16:13
One of the things that has concerned me for some time is the simple act of posting our orders away in plastic satchels - so a couple of weeks ago I did something about it.
We joined the team at www.gosweetspot.com, a 100% New Zealand owned and managed company started by some mates a few years ago. You can read about how they started here. Theirs is a cool story - seeing an opportunity, making a kind of plan, getting out there, working really hard, really believing in what you are doing, caring about our people and our environment, and then making it happen - just like us!
What really swayed me to work with the gosweetspot team is that they got their act together ecologically speaking and now provide their clients with eco-friendly, home and commercially compostable satchels, beautifully designed with images of native plants printed onto them with soy or water-based inks. You can read all about these amazing satchels here.
Loving our partnership with www.gosweetspot.com
Mary's blankets November 5, 2017 20:18
One of the pleasures of commissioned work is meeting fabulous people who love the handcrafted, and love their wool. One such couple hail from the Franklin region, south of Auckland. They had a pet sheep named Mary, and a daughter who wanted a blanket made from Mary's wool.
The journey of fleece to blanket ended up taking more than a decade. It took a few years for Mary to grow enough wool, then when there was enough the fleece was shipped north of Auckland for scouring, then south to Rolleston for spinning. Finding someone to weave Mary's wool proved elusive until an article about us appeared in a farming publication. A flurry of emails and phone calls followed, then the yarn was shipped to Oamaru and we got started.
Here is the story of Mary's wool - fleece to blanket - in pictures....
Thank you so much for the opportunity of weaving Mary's wool, and making the fabric up into blankets - a fabulous journey!
NZ Life and Leisure magazine March 15, 2017 10:36
We are very fortunate to have been featured in NZ Life and Leisure this month, and also on their online magazine: Thanks to everyone who has made this happen x
http://thisnzlife.co.nz/weaving-future-bespoke-handwoven-t…/
A retail outlet in historic Oamaru September 18, 2016 21:23
Rod and I are feeling really fortunate that some of our textiles are displayed in Design Federation in Harbour Street, Oamaru. Thanks Annabel and Meghan!!
It is fabulous seeing a range of our cushions, throws and lengths of fabric in a retail context, giving the public a tactile and visual experience of McLean & Co.
There are a selection of small blankets and throws which are perfect for a youngster, along with some hot water bottle covers complete with their own Fashy hot water bottle. We have lots more in stock, so contact me if you would like to know more or visit us to have a look in person.
An excellent yarn.... September 12, 2016 14:41
I have been so busy with the whole social media thing that I have omitted to be a good blog writer, so here I am, on this lovely spring day, thinking about the wonderful qualities of wool, especially New Zealand wool.
The article that triggered my thoughts is in New Zealand's Good magazine, and has a link to the extended feature which I found to be really good reading .... hope you enjoy it too!
http://www.good.net.nz/article/2011/08/an-excellent-yarn
Updating our online shop May 1, 2016 22:18
Gosh, it's already May, and winter is nearly upon us, so I have been putting lots of new stock onto our online shop. Check out our hot water bottle covers, scarves, little blankets and all the other things we have been making.
I love this video from New Zealand's own Lisa O'Neil... April 16, 2016 11:28
If you are wondering how you can wear a McLean & Co. scarf just check out this video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yphiy1DIVzU
Radio NZ interview - 16 March 2016 March 16, 2016 08:58
Another first time life experience this week was being interviewed by Kathryn Ryan on the Nine to Noon Show on Radio New Zealand. She was a fantastic interviewer, leading me through aspects of us McLean's, our looms and what we are creating on them. Thanks so much to Radio NZ for this fabulous opportunity, and also thanks to everyone who has responded to the interview for their support and encouragement.
Weaving the past into the future
Oamaru couple Sue and Rod McLean use a 100 year old weaving loom to make traditionally inspired textiles.
How to weave a scarf.... January 27, 2016 16:54
Welcome to the world of YouTube McLean & Co style!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWcrphsAeLo
Homebush Homestead curtains January 27, 2016 09:57
During 2014 we were approached by Louise Deans to see if we would be able to weave the curtains for the new Homebush homestead. You can read about Louise's journey of the past few years and the planning and construction o the Ian Athfield-designed house which sits amid the trees and green fields of historic Homebush, near Darfield, and was built as a replacement for the ancestral home of Canterbury pioneers William and John Deans, and which came crashing down in the 7.1-magnitude earthquake on September 4, 2010.
We were delighted to be approached and readily agreed to weave the approximately 160 metres that would be required to make the curtains. We discussed the style of weave, settling on a traditional herringbone design. Louise supplied us with their own lambswool which had been processed at the Bruce Woollen Mill in Milton, South Otago and we got going. This was our first big order and we continue to appreciate the faith Louise showed in Rod's skill as a weaver and our old looms. Val Briggs Interiors at Darfield made the curtains and they look absolutely amazing! https://www.facebook.com/ValBriggsInteriors/
Here are some images of the completed curtains - we thank Louise for her permission to share these images with you.
The new Homebush homestead also features in this recently published book -
Twist of Fate - Otago Daily Times article January 27, 2016 09:04
We have been lucky enough to be featured in the Otago Daily Times. Many thanks to Rebecca Ryan for the well written article about us.
http://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/368901/twists-fate
Weaving for Jane Shand Design January 26, 2016 16:51 1 Comment
Rod and I are very privileged to have been commissioned by Jane Shand from JSDesign to weave some of her very fine merino yarn. It is undoubtedly the most exquisite yarn we have ever worked with and it is grown in Middlemarch and milled at the Bruce Woollen Mills in Milton, which just adds to our belief that rural NZ has the produce and the skills to produce world class products.
You can check Jane and her merino products out at http://www.jsdesign.co.nz/
We spent yesterday threading 1,830 72 metre long very fine merino warp ends through 1,830 metal heddles on four shafts. As you can imagine it is a very fiddly process, but we work well together once we agree on the order of the shafts and their associated number.
Rod is really looking forward to weaving this warp - he loves really fine work even though it means he has to pedal much more than with heavier weight yarns.
This is a 60 ends to the inch warp, which means that 60 of the threads lined up next to each other equals 1 inch, which also means that Rod will have to pedal 60 times to create 1 inch of fabric. This is not an occupation for the faint hearted!!
This is the frame we use when threading the heddles - Rod sits on the yellow tartan chair and I sit inside the frame, handing him one thread at a time which he threads through each heddle in the right order (otherwise the pattern will be wrong and you can't fix it once it's on the loom so it's not a good thing to happen!)
I'll keep this blog updated so you can follow our progress.
Becoming Marketeers... January 26, 2016 15:10
Another exciting thing we get to do now is go to markets where we get to show off our wares and talk to lots of people. Every market has a different feel to it and we have enjoyed meeting fellow stall holders who have been very generous with helpful information and amusing market stories.
Here is Rod in our gazebo at a fete at the Cromwell Racecourse in November. Our stall and unique product attracted a lot of attention from people interested in textiles and the craft of weaving. We were even presented with a certificate acknowledging us as the most sustainable stall!
And here am I at the Oamaru Victorian Fete in all of my pink glory.
How to weave a scarf January 26, 2016 14:17
We ended 2015 by completing a fabulous order for a 60m length of Wanaka Tartan, 20m of which I made into scarves for our client to give to her family as Christmas gifts. We worked with her to ensure her tartan design was translated as she wanted it, sourced the yarn and organised the dyeing of the correct colours. I took photos of each step of the process and have made a powerpoint which I just need to add music to and upload to YouTube for you all to see.
We really enjoyed working with our client to ensure we were able to provide a quality product which was just as she had envisaged and which has now become something special for her family to remember her by in time to come.
You can watch a video of the process on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWcrphsAeLo
Another order ready for delivery!! October 6, 2015 14:39
Today I have finished making up an order for one of our fabulous customers - ready for packaging up to head North. The fabric for these scarves and cushions is woven from lambs wool in a closed herringbone design and look and feel really beautiful.
I've also made these two cushions - they'll look fabulous on her couch...
The teddy bear was made by our lovely friend Margie and I have borrowed it to use as a prop until she makes us a McLean & Co. bear from some of our McLean tartan. Thanks Margie!!
Black and white tweed September 28, 2015 16:28
Rod has just started weaving this new design (for us) using black wool and white lambs wool so it will be really durable and very soft. A friend sent us a photo of a coat with a design similar to this so we figured out how we could replicate it within the confines of our loom abilities. It was fun warping it up as we both had to concentrate on our counting because neither of us wanted to be blamed for any mistakes!! We are really pleased with the results. If you have any patterns or colour combinations you would like us to try then please contact us and we'll give it a go.
The tweed weaving loom.
The lambs wool wound onto the pirns ready for weaving.
Showing the warp black threads, the white weft thread and the herringbone pattern they make.
Gorgeous!!!
Our labels August 26, 2015 12:04
Our labels are sewn onto our scarves and baby blankets by hand. I choose to do this because I like the look and feel of them - they seem to move with the fabric so much better than the machine sewn labels. It is also part of our crafted by hand philosophy - the extra little touches that you don't get with mass produced items.
Check out our facebook page for more images of our gorgeous scarves and baby blankets with hand stitched labels.....
https://www.facebook.com/pages/McLean-Co-Weave-and-Stitch/266857373386713
Artizan Moldova Artisan Weaving Video August 18, 2015 12:39
This is an interesting clip showing the process of weaving warp and wefts.
https://www.facebook.com/artizan.moldova/videos/510377522450952/
Scotland's Last Artisan Tartan Mill: A Tour of D C Dalgliesh August 18, 2015 12:29
While we wait for a McLean & Co. movie, here is one to tempt your weaving interest....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W9UBVjx_QQ
Agnes Martin Exhibition at the TATE August 17, 2015 10:55
Wishing I could visit the Agnes Martin exhibition currently showing at the TATE - she is one of my favourite artists of all time, and one I will focus on when I do my masters.
http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/agnes-martin
McLean Hunting Tartan Cushions August 11, 2015 18:19
Today I finally got some of our huge roll of McLean Hunting Tartan made into cushions - just in time for them to be a special wedding gift.
And here they are all wrapped up and ready for delivery....
We have a huge roll of McLean Hunting Tartan just waiting to be made up into cushions, curtains, scarves or coats.....
London Cloth Company August 10, 2015 12:06
We have been corresponding with a fabulous young man named Daniel Harris who established the London Cloth Company a few years ago. He has some Hattersley looms just like ours, and is infatuated with the whole looms and weaving process, just like another man I know!!
Check Daniel out -
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26179200
Packaging Idea... August 9, 2015 10:02
I have been checking out some different packaging ideas which tie in with our 'waste not, want not' principles ....
Let me know what you think about this idea - it uses no sellotape and everything can be repurposed. I have used acid free tissue paper to wrap the textile, tucking in the edges, then wrapped it in a strip of black paper which I tied with a length of wool. The image is a postcard which you can use to send a special note to someone. Slipped inside is an information card telling you about us and our looms.
Lengths of woven fabric are now on-line ... August 4, 2015 16:41
I have spent the afternoon photographing and uploading more lengths of fabric to our shop site. I have tried to ensure the colours are fairly accurate, but it will be best if you contact me for either more images or a fabric sample before you order. We have some lovely short runs, each of them unique!
Hokonui Fashion Design Awards July 26, 2015 14:09
Rod and I enjoyed attending the Hokonui Fashion Awards in Gore over the weekend. We went specifically to check out the event as a whole and the standard and variety of entrants. There was a huge range of entries, most of them really good, and we came away with big plans to enter next year ... in fact by the time we got back to the motel I had the next three warps organised for Rod to weave!!
A visit from Grey Power... July 22, 2015 20:49
Rod and I have had a lovely visit from 47 members from Grey Power Christchurch. They were really interested in the looms and our product and have promised to spread the word!! They also visited Steampunk HQ and the Star and Garter restaurant while in Oamaru. It was lovely hearing different stories and textile experiences and we are hoping some of our visitors will come and see us again.
Here are some of our bits and pieces on display.
A very clean work room with two chairs covered in our fabric.
Some of our fabric on display in the kitchen.
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