Loopy Ewes
Shepherd and Maker
Katie Allen is a farmer turned knitwear designer-maker based in Wiltshire. As well as handcrafting a collection of homewares and garments, she also manages a flock of over 350 rare breed sheep, producing all the raw fibre for her work. Her management approach to growing organic raw materials on the farm is helping to create an ecosystem that benefits wildlife, supports important species and creates an environment that produces healthier food and fibre.
Katie graduated from Bath Spa University with an MA Design: Fashion and Textiles in early 2021 from which she launched her first professional knitwear collection. Her graduate collection won several awards, including a Student Design Award from the RSA where her work was referred to as “disruptive and had real potential to shift the current system”. She was also selected to join the prestigious Craft Council Crafting Business Programme (formally Hot House).
Since graduating she has developed her collection of knitted garments and homewares, and established a reputation for pushing the boundaries in sustainable design practice and her work was stocked at Liberty London, both in their iconic Regent Street shop as well as online as part of a Craft showcase in collaboration with the Crafts Council. Last year one of Katie’s jumpers was included in a catwalk show at London Fashion Week curated by Safia Minney. It was part of a collection championing regenerative fashion, with garments chosen for their craftsmanship and sustainability credentials.
Her design aesthetic is bold and colour is integral to her design process, with careful attention to slow, hand-crafted production going into each piece. She has continued to push the boundaries of sustainable craft by bringing natural dyeing into her process, entwined with the same level of accountability and traceability that people can expect of her wool fibre. Now cultivating plant dyes on the farm, Katie is growing the colour for her collection, alongside the fibre, producing truly regenerative, farm-to-field knitwear.
What is so amazing about working with British wool? As a farmer, British native breeds are best suited to our climate and the 100% pasture based system we run at Great Cotmarsh Farm. We have two native breeds of sheep – Castlemilk Moorit and Portland. They are incredibly different, both in their personalities and the characteristics of the wool, and it underlines the wonderful variety that the British wool clip provides. Beautiful yarns, rich in history and an incredibly versatile offering.
If any/ what have been your challenges with working with British wool and a local way of working? High investment costs of getting my yarns spun is difficult to manage for a small craft based designer and the lack of dye facilities that support organic and natural dyeing the UK is challenging.
What gauge of Knitwear do you sell? i.e fine gauge 10-12gg or more chunky knits such as 7-5gg I have my fleeces spun into chunky and Aran weight yarns.
Do you find that customers are becoming more interested in British wool? My business is founded on its ability to tell the story – very openly and honestly - about how my garments are produced, from the finishing stitch right back to caring for the sheep in the field. Now I am adding natural dyes into my business, which are grown here at the farm, my accountability and message behind the brand is even stronger and customers are very much engaged with that message.
Do you have any hero farmers or people in your supply chain you would like to highlight? Sophie Halt – Pigment Plant Dyes
*Every aspect of my work is founded upon the premise that we must have as light an impact on the planet as possible, not just through big commitments, in the small details too. My work tells the story of how textiles can be produced in harmony with the rhythms of nature. It aims to connect customers to the rituals of making and heal the disconnect with the reality that so much of what we use and take for granted, comes from the land.
My wool is produced under a farming system with the highest regard for nature. This year we have progressed into the second year of conversion to organic management with the Soil Association organic standards and proactively take decisions that support nature recovery. As well as measuring our soil organic carbon to ensure our management is helping to regenerate soil health, we have had bird surveys done on the farm to ensure we are supporting red endangered species such as Yellowhammer.
Grown, spun and finished in under 130 miles, the carbon footprint for my raw material is very low. This also means I know and meet the individuals involved at every stage of turning the wool on my flocks back into a useable knitting yarn.
I create my garments using the no-waste knitting process of fully fashioning - whereby each piece of the garment is knitted separately and then sewn together by hand. In addition I use a hand-powered knitting machine, which means no electricity is used in their construction. The wooden tags I sew onto each piece to mark the unique Loopy Ewes provenance are 100% biodegradable - unlike a lot of garment labels that use synthetic fibres.
This year I have starting cultivating dye plants on the farm. When aspiring to create beautiful work within a harm free process, the conflict between using colour and the environmental damage it creates has been challenging. I am on a journey to learn how to extract dye material from plants grown organically on the farm, to give my work colour which is not just better for the environment, but further roots my practice into the landscape.
I have recently been granted funding from DEFRA to host farm visits with under 18s and so have launched a new education program “Fashion as a Force of Nature’. I have invited colleges with GCSE and A Level textile students to the farm to learn more about how I create fashion that can be a positive force for nature.
Located at Great Cotmarsh Farm in North Wiltshire, the farm visit exposes students to the very beginning of the fashion supply chain, and helps them to forge a deeper connection between nature and our clothes. By seeing in practice how wool, leather and botanical dyes can be grown within a sustainable farming system in the UK, students will be able to understand how meaningful relationships with the land and the farmers who grow our food and fibre, can enable a healthy more sustainable model for fashion.
The time on the farm involves a farm walk, where students can meet our sheep and cattle and learn about how we care for them in an organic farming system. We have two different sheep breeds so it’s a unique opportunity to see how varied British wool is. We can explain the journey of the wool from the sheep’s back, through the mill to a finished yarn and students can see our yarns, and the garments I create using the fibre. We also have the same story to share about our leather. Depending on the time of year, students may have the opportunity to help out in the dye garden. It’s an opportunity for students to get inquisitive about where their clothes come from – what are the fibres and fabrics are made from, how are dyes are created, and to see real life examples of doing things differently. They will be able to ask lots of questions and hopefully leave feeling inspired on how their own textile practice could become a positive force for nature.