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A video by Brian High about how we do what we do.

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What's the Fashion Revolution?

It's April already and #fashionrevolutionweek2020    The world is a different place to this time last year. Many people are having time to take a breath, and take stock of some global issues that we often glance at, but don't look too deeply into. The issue of fast fashion's impact on our Earth; socially, culturally,environmentally, economically and ethically is one of these. In response to the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh and a call for more transparency in fast fashion...

Where does the time go???

I have been thinking it was time to write another wee episode for our blog. I couldn't believe it was October when I last sat down to do this!! It got me thinking, "Where does the time go?"...

October newsletter time...

The year is speeding by and we are busy weaving and making stock for our coming busy season. One would think that winter would be the busy time for woollen textile manufacturers, but actually the busy time for us spans November through to May - the tourist season, and then heading into winter. Jazz has been really busy weaving beautiful New Zealand wool into fabric for me to make into a new range of throws which will be online shortly. So far she has woven four colourways (Sky Blue, Daffodil Yel...

Go Sweet Spot

One of the things that has concerned me for some time is the simple act of posting our orders away in plastic satchels - so a couple of weeks ago I did something about it. We joined the team at www.gosweetspot.com, a 100% New Zealand owned and managed company started by some mates a few years ago. You can read about how they started here.Theirs is a cool story - seeing an opportunity, making a kind of plan,getting out there, working really hard, really believing in what you are doing, caring abo...

Wool, wool, wool....

Our business, McLean & Co weaves contemporary textiles using  New Zealand wool and traditional tweed and tartan patterns. Our textiles are limited edition, created in an ethical and sustainable manner; valuing the looms, the woollen fibre we use, and the people we work and interact with. Rod and I choose to weave woollen cloth. Wool is an exceptional fibre. A common fibre with superb attributes of being sustainable, resilient, absorbent, insulative, biodegradable, useful and reusable. The C...

August 2019 newsletter

Writing a newsletter is scary - I receive newsletters from a few organisations and companies and I am always interested in the written and visual content - and most of them look so amazingly perfect, well-polished and confident. Tonight I finished our August newsletter and then pushed the 'send' button - it was really scary because the only other newsletter I've done I had my friend Frances here with me and we both checked it over and worked on the visuals and format together. Tonight I had to b...

The Slow Fashion Movement

People often ask "What is slow fashion?" Quite simply, slow fashion is the opposite of fast fashion. Slow Fashion is an awareness and approach to fashion. It means you choose to buy less, purchasing better quality, classic pieces which add value to your wardrobe. It means making conscious and thoughtful decisions about what you choose to buy. It means making a stand for environmental issues by insisting on transparent and sustainable production processes that do not harm our Earth. It mean...

Do we call it NZ Halfbred, Colonial Halfbred or Merino/Romney cross?

Whatever you want to call it, we love Halfbred yarn. It's soft, durable, lively; a real pleasure to weave and wear. Halfbred growers tell us that they are kind sheep, with a good nature. Here's a little bit of history for you... The Halfbred, or ‘colonial’ Halfbred, sheep was one of the first crossbreeds specially developed for New Zealand conditions during the later 1800's. A cross between a Merino and a Romney or English Leicester, Halfbreds, like Corriedales, are a New Zealand breed devel...

North & South magazine article

The Ōamaru couple bringing back traditional textiles by Sue Hoffart / 13 October 2018   Sue and Rod McLean hand weave traditional textiles in their Ōamaru workshop using three cast-iron looms that are more than 100 years old. Photo/David Atkinson Patience, resilience and passion are woven into the work of Ōamaru handcrafters Rod and Sue McLean. As men of a certain age turn to Lycra and road cycling, Rod McLean prefers a little more sartorial elegance while pedaling his loom. The waistcoa...

Mary's blankets

One of the pleasures of commissioned work is meeting fabulous people who love the handcrafted, and love their wool.  One such couple hail from the Franklin region, south of Auckland.  They had a pet sheep named Mary, and a daughter who wanted a blanket made from Mary's wool.  The journey of fleece to blanket ended up taking more than a decade. It took a few years for Mary to grow enough wool, then when there was enough the fleece was shipped north of Auckland for scouring, then s...

Becoming marketeers!

Another exciting thing we get to do now is go to markets where we get to show off our wares and talk to lots of people.  Every market has a different feel to it and we have enjoyed meeting fellow stall holders who have been very generous with helpful information and amusing market stories. Here is Rod in our gazebo at a fete at the Cromwell Racecourse in November.  Our stall and unique product attracted a lot of attention from people interested in textiles and the craft of weaving.&n...

Weaving for heritage

During 2014 we were approached by Louise Deans to see if we would be able to weave the curtains for the new Homebush homestead.  You can read about Louise's journey of the past few years and the planning and construction o the Ian Athfield-designed house which sits amid the trees and green fields of historic Homebush, near Darfield, and was built as a replacement for the ancestral home of Canterbury pioneers William and John Deans, and which came crashing down in the 7.1-magnitude earthqu...

London Cloth Company

We have been corresponding with a fabulous young man named Daniel Harris who established the London Cloth Company a few years ago.  He has some Hattersley looms just like ours, and is infatuated with the whole looms and weaving process, just like another man I know!! Check Daniel out -  http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26179200...

Collaborating with Jane Shand Design

Rod and I are very privileged to have been commissioned by Jane Shand from JSDesign to weave some of her very fine merino yarn.  It is undoubtedly the most exquisite yarn we have ever worked with and it is grown in Middlemarch and milled at the Bruce Woollen Mills in Milton, which just adds to our belief that rural NZ has the produce and the skills to produce world class products. You can check Jane and her merino products out at  http://www.jsdesign.co.nz/ We spent yesterday threadin...

NZ Life and Leisure magazine feature

We are very fortunate to have been featured in NZ Life and Leisure this month, and also on their online magazine: Thanks to everyone who has made this happen x http://thisnzlife.co.nz/weaving-future-bespoke-handwoven-t…/ ...

A Twist of Fate - Otago Daily Times article

Twist of Fate - Otago Daily Times article We have been lucky enough to be featured in the Otago Daily Times.  Many thanks to Rebecca Ryan for the well written article about us. http://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/368901/twists-fate...

Latitude Magazine Article about us

An article about us and our creative endeavours was featured in Latitude Magazine issue 35, June/July 2014. The article introduced our story and the story of the looms as we began this adventure of McLean & Co - Weave and Stitch.  The story is still pretty much the same, we just know more than we did back then!!! Thanks to Sarah Rowland for the article and great pictures and Latitude Magazine for publishing us. ...

Our first proper blog!

Oh my gosh, what an endeavour to create an on-line shop when you are not very tech savvy .... BUT I have done it!!!!! This is Rod and I looking pretty pleased with ourselves - we thought we were on our way a year ago when Sarah Rowland took this gorgeous photo ... BUT.... good things take time!!  Since this photo was taken I have resigned from my lovely job teaching Art Technology at Oamaru Intermediate School, and completed my NZ Certificate in Small Business Management ...  so now, i...