Deptford Yard’s Freeweaver Studio puts mindful, sustainable practice at its heart: owner Erna Janine tells Eliza Frost what it’s all about
Freeweaver Studio is a “friendly and spacious” creative textile environment where Erna Janine offers workshops. She runs the space with a team and a group of CSM and Chelsea textile design interns.
Erna is a Dutch-born weaver who has been working in textiles since 1994, when she undertook a two-year weaving apprenticeship in the remote highlands of Iceland.
She tells us about upcoming events, the history of weaving and life in Deptford.
What does Freeweaver Studio offer?
Erna Janine: After relocating from the Isle of Dogs in 2023, we have increased the number of weaving looms and added a gallery space to our studio.
We offer regular floor loom weaving classes that emphasise intuitive creativity.
Apart from teaching the basics of floor loom weaving, we also host a range of mini workshops: make a scarf, make a sustainable table runner, make a cushion.
For those seeking to wear their woven cloth, we offer a unique “From Thread to Garment” workshop in collaboration with high-end tailor Petit Jardin London, too.
Once a month, we also spin organic cotton on a traditional Indian Charkha spinning wheel in the Gandhian tradition of Swadeshi (harmony with nature and community). And we dye with indigo and mud dyes and spin flax, hemp and silk regularly.
Can you tell us about the history of weaving and dyeing?
The Japanese weaving tradition we follow in the studio is based on a type of freestyle weaving developed in the south of Japan in the late sixties by a local woman, Misao Jo (1913-2018).
I met her in Japan when she was 99 years old.
During her long and productive life, she observed the rapid technological changes sweeping through her native country.
As many people did at that moment in time, she reflected inwardly on these grave developments and created a very radical creative response to what she saw around her (the rise of highly automated super factories and cities).
Her vision was brought to life through the design of her weaving loom, a hand-built piece of equipment made from cherry wood that enables the weaver to create cloth quickly yet creatively.
In 2017, I created Freeweaver Studio, which follows Misao’s tradition, the very first contemporary weaving studio of its kind in the whole of London.
All our weaving looms are made by hand for us by Misao’s family, as well as the bespoke eye-catching yarn wall stocking over 2,000 yarn cones, which you can see through our train platform facing window.
What events do you have coming up?
From 15-24 April, we will take part in Fashion Revolution Week.
We have a week-long programme with a firm focus on natural fibres and traditional craft practice. We will also present a large installation art piece in Somerset House’s courtyard for the occasion on 20 April.
And for London Craft Week, 13-19 May, we return to our Japanese roots and are proud to host the first-ever creative programme at Deptford Market Yard: Japanese Textile and Craft Festival with Japanese weaving and dyeing workshops, a Japan-UK exhibition and a small market.
How does it feel being located in Deptford?
As a foreigner and a female business owner, I am very grateful for the support I have received at Deptford Market Yard and the wide range of cultural institutions connected to the area: The Albany, Goldsmiths university, and The Laban.
Fashion and textiles have also found a home around Deptford Market Yard; Naked offers weekly knitting classes, a new sustainable fashion brand is doing a pop-up store and market event soon and Appear Here is putting together a programme of art exhibitions later this spring, too.
Freeweaver Studio’s next Open Studio event will take place on 15/16 March 2024, from 2pm to 7pm. Everyone is welcome.
@freeweaver_studio on Instagram
Deptford Market Yard, SE8 4BX
Images: Emilie Sandy and Ben Veasey
