author
Ethel Mairet
1872–1952
A leading figure in Britain’s 20th-century craft revival, this hand-loom weaver helped bring weaving and natural dyeing back into everyday creative practice. Her books and teaching made a lasting impression on generations of textile artists.
2 Audiobooks
A Book on Vegetable Dyes
by Ethel Mairet
About the author
Born Ethel Mary Partridge in Devon in 1872, she became one of the most important hand weavers in Britain. Sources agree that time spent in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, helped spark her deep interest in weaving and dyeing, and after returning to England she took up the loom in earnest.
She went on to play a major role in the revival of hand weaving in the first half of the 20th century. Working first in Gloucestershire and later in Ditchling, Sussex, she developed cloth, experimented with color and natural dyes, and taught many others who carried her ideas forward.
Mairet also wrote influential books, including Handweaving Today and Vegetable Dyes, which helped make her knowledge accessible beyond her workshop. She died in 1952, but she is still remembered as a key force in modern British textile craft.