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Review of the year - Education (2022/23)

Leslie Winnell was a leading designer at James Arnolds Co. Ltd, Macclesfield, in the 1940s and 50s. The Arts Society have been working hard to uncover some of Leslie's designs, which you can explore in this video.

This video shows a few highlights from the activities we have run at the Silk Museum during 2022.

Here is our braiding machine. The machine has been out of action for a couple of years. As you can see it is very stiff to work, unable to make a full turn. Volunteers Bill and Marianda have been working hard cleaning up and resetting this machine so it can be used once more. Please look at the After video to see the result!

After a good clean and a little tinkering with the mechanisms, our volunteers have got this machine working again. Look how much smoother it works compared to the Before video. The machine creates a platted braid working around 2 central threads to create strength. These fine braids would be used for trimmings on furnishings and clothing.

Each one of the 15 cords in a single harness bundle has to be threaded through the same hole in each of the 15 slips in the comber board. The harness bundles are each threaded in the correct order. Our Jacquard harnesses are mounted using the 'London System' where the cords are at a 90 degree angle from the hooks to the comber board. Each of the harness bundles in attached to its correct corres...

We have to make 384 harness bundles. Each harness bundle in the Jacquard handloom we are restoring contains 15 cords because the pattern is being repeated 15 times across the width of the fabric. The harness is made from linen. We made a jig, corresponding to the measurements of the old harness cords, to wind the cord lengths. We referred to the book 'Jacquard Mechanism and Harness Mounting' by...

This Industrial Sewing Machine was last used at Barracks Printing Co. It was an easy way of linking yards of fabric together. This machine has recently undergone a deep clean, which has enable us to run it again. It creates loose, looped stitching that can be easily pulled out, a bit like how sacks are sewn together. As Barracks screen and block printed metres of fabric across enormous printing...

Before building and mounting a new Jacquard harness, for the restoration of our second demonstration handloom in Paradise Mill, we have to cut out the old one. We carefully documented the tie up of all 5760 cords and checked and double checked everything before removing the old harness. It was still a dramatic moment. The restoration is kindly funded by a grant from the Association For Industri...

If individual jacquard cards are damaged they can be copied and replaced by this machine. The card to be copied is inserted between the two metal plates. The feelers read where the holes are located in the cards, these control the keys and punches via a set of cords. This machine was last commercially used at JW Brooks Ltd Macclesfield. We currently use the machine to repeat our historic Jacqua...

Here you can see what happens to the needles after they have been threaded by an Industrial Needle Threader.

Here you can see an Industrial Needle Threaders mechanism for threading needles. Last used in Macclesfield at Hewetsons Embroidery Firm.

Watch the Industrial Needle Threading Machine move in this mini clip. Hand embroidery machines used pre-threaded double ended needles - perhaps as many as 300 at a time - to sew repeat patterns across a width of cloth. Originally needles were hand threaded and it required several girls to thread them fast enough to satisfy the demands of a single embroidery machine. A mechanised needle threader...

Binary and the Jacquard Mechanism - demonstration

AIA Handloom Restoration 01 03 22 Second Loom Task

Tunnicliffe Art Competition Entries

Binary - The Jacquard Mechanism and Early Computing

Paradise Mill & The Silk Museum visitor experience

Have a Dabble Exhibition

Mini Superheroes wake up Macclesfield Museums Reopening Video 2021

Have A Dabble - Thankyou

Welcome Back! Macclesfield Museums Reopening

Stories Without Candles trailer

Punched Paper Automation - A Short History Played By A Music Box

Ask our Egyptologist: Part 7 - Tutankhamun and Other Discoveries

Ask our Egyptologist: Part 6 - Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt

Ask our Egyptologist: Part 5 - Mummies

Ask our Egyptologist: Part 4 - Mummification

A Music Box Tribute To The Jacquard Mechanism and Punched Paper Automation.