Gawthorpe Textiles Collection is one of the finest collections of lace, embroidery and textiles in Europe. Housed at Gawthorpe Hall in Lancashire, UK, the collection was amassed by Miss Rachel B. Kay-Shuttleworth (1886 – 1967). She was renowned for her expert knowledge and skills in needlework, and for her dedicated work with local communities. Miss Rachel turned her ancestral home into a Craft House in order to keep alive the textile skills and techniques she feared were being lost.

Gawthorpe Textiles Collection is a registered charity. Today, the team continues to work towards achieving Miss Rachel’s vision for the collection by providing learning opportunities, delivering events, and textile displays at Gawthorpe Hall so that more people can engage with and be inspired by the collection.

On a brisk autumnal day in 2013, six UK-based designers congregated at Gawthorpe to take inspiration from the textiles. With support from Arts Council England, each designer created a knit or crochet pattern inspired by an item in the Collection. The patterns are available for sale to raise funds to care for and preserve this important historic collection for future generations to enjoy and continue to deliver inspiring education programmes.

Ravelry Store published in February 2014

ravelry.com