Niche business keeping it local

David Harris Member for Wyong visits Jilliby to check out the niche business Fibre Arts Shed, operated by Clare and Paul Thornley who operate a mini woollen mill and fibre arts and crafts supply retail website.

6 December 2023

 

David Harris said that he was amazed of the process by Clare and Paul, who demonstrated how to manufacture high quality fibre and yarn.

 

“What makes this even more special is locally sourced products are being used," Mr Harris said.

 

The pair purchased the business in late 2016 with focus on importing a wide range of high-quality fibre and yarn.

 

The venture started out as a hobby business for Clare, a lifelong avid knitter who holds a PhD but no business experience or training and soon became her full-time job.

 

In the Autumn of 2021 during the COVID pandemic and in between lockdowns they expanded their business with the acquisition of a mini mill, partially supported by a successful crowd-funding campaign.

 

Paul left his job as a database analyst and threw himself into learning how to run the 8-piece mill, which arrived at their shed on the back of a truck up from Melbourne - and without a "how-to" manual.

 

Since then, the pair have worked to build relationships with wool, alpaca and mohair farms from the Central Coast, New South Wales and across Australia, bringing high-quality, locally grown fibre to yarn dyers and crafters.

 

One of these is Central Coast residents Rhonda and Barry, who dye yarn and fibre for their micro business Three Trees Fibre Crafts. Clare and Paul have supplied Three Trees with yarn on more than one occasion.

 

The first was a yarn spun from alpaca from the Hunter Valley blended with wool from Clare and Paul's own sheep, named Madam.

 

A more recent collaboration resulted in the creation of a beautiful woollen-spun yarn that was a blend of Central Coast grown alpaca with a lovely wool.

 

These yarns have been expertly dyed by Rhonda and Barry and sold to their customers from around the country.

Outside of the Central Coast, Fibre Arts Shed has sourced fibre from wool growers in Cooma and Taralga NSW to create yarn that is traceable to the farm.

 

Recently, Clare and Paul have also worked with a wool grower and a yarn shop both from Rylstone to create a yarn with a very small footprint.

 

Following shearing, the wool was brought to the mill at Fibre Arts Shed where it was washed, picked, carded, spun, plied and steamed before being returned to the yarn shop, a mere 3.5km away from where it was grown.

 

In addition to striving to build community through their work sourcing, milling, and selling fibre and yarn that is 100% Australian (and in many cases 100% NSW), Clare and Paul are also working hard to make their mill a zero-waste mill.

 

Up to 40% of the weight of the fibre can be lost during the milling process (from raw, dirty fleece to finished product).

 

Some of this is dirt and lanolin (grease) that is washed away during scouring. However, much of this weight is "unsuitable" fibre that gets removed from or falls off the carder during milling.

 

Clare and Paul have created a yarn that reuses some of this mill waste. This yarn blends reclaimed mill waste with a "new" wool to create a lofty yarn, called Yarn Over Yarn, that is suitable for beanies, jumpers, cardigans, shawls and blankets.

 

They also have plans to create a yarn that incorporates all the bits of yarn that they save from the ends of bobbins to create a "scrappy" yarn.

 

And they are working to secure funding to purchase a machine that can take all the dirty "unsuitable" raw fibre and turn it into a product that can be used as a soil amendment.

 

The Central Coast is an ideal location for niche micro businesses like Fibre Arts Shed.

 

With easy access from the M1, logistics and product distribution are straightforward, efficient, and economical.

 

Geographically, the Central Coast's location between Sydney and Newcastle, is also a major benefit.

 

On a community level, the availability of local wool and alpaca farms in the Yarramalong and Dooralong Valleys as well as the nearby Hunter Valley gives Fibre Arts Shed the amazing opportunity to create yarns with an incredibly small footprint keeping is local.

 

In support of this locally sourced and locally produced ethos, Clare and Paul are licensee holders with the Australian Fibre Collective, a not-for-profit Association, formed with the aim of increasing awareness of the Australian Fibre and Textile Industry and providing transparency and certification for business that are creating 100% Australian grown, manufactured and or crafted products.

 

Clare Thornley said, “Fibre Arts Shed is one of many micro businesses that calls the north-western end of the Central Coast home.”

 

“The location, resources and most importantly the community make our region rich with possibilities and opportunities”.

 

These all come together to help Clare and Paul continue to be able to bring high quality, locally grown fibre, and yarn to crafters across the region, state, country and overseas.