36 SPRING HOME

eaving is having a moment. Tate Modern’s

recent show of Anni Albers’ work threw

weaving, and particularly women weavers,

into the spotlight and Margo Selby is one of

the UK’s best and most successful weavers.

Her work spans large-scale commissions and

major licenses as well as an ongoing stream

of one-off , hand-woven pieces. She is both a

talented maker and a savvy entrepreneur.

Having started her business 15 years ago,

straight out of college with a large fl oor loom

taking up a lot of space in her bedroom in

Willesden, she now manages a serious busi-

ness from a studio in Whitstable. She pro-

duces designs for companies ranging from

Osborne and Little to the Royal Opera House,

via the London Transport Museum and Bert

Frank, while continuing to weave her own

blankets, scarves and lengths of fabric for

framing. Her colourful, graphic patterns have

a strong signature that’s immediately identi-

fi able, even in the vast variety of her output

• and her dedication to the craft is enormous.
  She’s also hugely friendly and fun. Welcom-
  ing me to her studio, she is clearly loved by
  her employees, all of whom, she insists, must
  spend some time on the loom every week. It’s
  fundamental for her that the business won’t
  lost sight of its roots in hand weaving. Because

it all started with technique. It was a fascina-

tion with making fabric, though not specifi -

cally woven fabric, that interested her at fi rst.

She tells me: “My family have always had a

tradition of women making textiles at home.

My granny taught me crochet, knitting and

cross-stitch. I was interested from a young

age, so when I found out I could do a degree

in textiles I thought that was really exciting.”

Weaving didn’t immediately appeal because

of what she assumed would be a restrictive

method. “You do have to be very disciplined

and follow a lot of rules and I’m not really like

that, but somehow that discipline gives me

a big sense of security and my work a lot of

structure. I’m very mathematical. I like it to

make sense and be ordered and have a struc-

ture. I don’t like designs that are too organic.”

The loom, she explains, was essentially the

fi rst computer. It works to a binary formula;

designs are drawn on paper in the form

of grids representing diff erent squares of

pattern, warp or weft. Working a loom all

depends on the complex threading of it, with

the warp thread on the loom and the weft

thread going through it.

But what is it actually like, sitting at a loom

and weaving? “It’s very meditative, rhythmic,

you can get lost in it.” Do you have to count? Is

it forgiving or are mistakes rectifi able? “There

is some counting,” she admits. “But yes, you

ture. I don’t like designs that are too organic.”

The loom, she explains, was essentially the

fi rst computer. It works to a binary formula;

designs are drawn on paper in the form

of grids representing diff erent squares of

pattern, warp or weft. Working a loom all

depends on the complex threading of it, with

the warp thread on the loom and the weft

But what is it actually like, sitting at a loom

and weaving? “It’s very meditative, rhythmic,

Osborne and Little to the Royal Opera House,

via the London Transport Museum and Bert

Frank, while continuing to weave her own

blankets, scarves and lengths of fabric for

framing. Her colourful, graphic patterns have

a strong signature that’s immediately identi-

fi able, even in the vast variety of her output

• and her dedication to the craft is enormous.
  She’s also hugely friendly and fun. Welcom-
  ing me to her studio, she is clearly loved by
  her employees, all of whom, she insists, must

it all started with technique. It was a fascina-

tion with making fabric, though not specifi -

cally woven fabric, that interested her at fi rst.

She tells me: “My family have always had a

tradition of women making textiles at home.

My granny taught me crochet, knitting and

cross-stitch. I was interested from a young

age, so when I found out I could do a degree

WW

eaving is having a moment. Tate Modern’s

W

eaving is having a moment. Tate Modern’s

recent show of Anni Albers’ work threw

W

recent show of Anni Albers’ work threw

weaving, and particularly women weavers,

W

weaving, and particularly women weavers,

into the spotlight and Margo Selby is one of

W

into the spotlight and Margo Selby is one of

Wthe UK’s best and most successful weavers. the UK’s best and most successful weavers.

Her work spans large-scale commissions and

W

Her work spans large-scale commissions and

W

Margo Selby for Bert Frank

HOME_Spring19_MARGO SELBY.indd 36 29/03/2019 12:29