Cotton Handloom Weavers of the Western Cape
The Barrydale Hand Weavers was established in 2007 in the eponymous Barrydale, a town on the border of the Klein Karoo known for its idyllic tranquility and offbeat artistic community. While the Barrydale set up goes back about a decade, the history of the company spans over three decades back.
This Barrydale Hand Weavers is a partnership between Tivane Mavuma and Carol Morris with its roots in the luscious Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland). In 1985 Rudi Bagman, a German master weaver, established a local carpet weaving enterprise where Tivane was employed as his first trainee, an occupation to which he took fondly. Carol had been working on a farm based mohair knitwear project and when she sought out a weaver to expand the enterprise, the two joined forces. When Carol relocated to Barrydale, Tivane and the looms were soon to follow.
The Barrydale Hand Weavers produce an array of mostly homeware textiles in 100% handwoven cotton. Most of this cotton is sourced from the north eastern province of Limpopo. From the start the enterprise has been community centered with the earliest looms being donated and a skills training project initiated which produced skills and employment for local women who now form the workforce of weavers who bring their personal touch and design input to the products.
The Barrydale Hand Weavers are known across the country and to a growing global market for a standard of high quality, uniquely hand made, natural textile range which includes towels, rugs, throws and a vast array of other homeware textiles. Their signature aesthetic is a color weft stripe on a majority unbleached cotton ground which is woven into a luxuriously thick, natural feeling cloth with no concealment of the hand of weaver, resulting in a product which varies from item to item.
The Hand Weavers products are widely stocked in outlets both in centers and smaller towns nationally whose stock tends towards a more natural and sustainable trend as well as online to local and global retail and wholesale markets.
The flagship store is attached to the workshop on the popular Route 62, both of which are open to public and well worth a visit.
Reading List
Heron, M. 2016. ‘What Looms Large in the Overberg.’ Country Life. Online
Visit The Barrydale Hand Weavers Website
Image credits
Images Borrowed from Mael Midden, Bespoke Home, House & Leisure, Craft Editions