Dannevirke Spinners and Weavers Club celebrates 50th anniversary of Craft Cottage

Dannevirke Spinners and Weavers' longest-standing member Elaine Weber and president Warwick Clayton cut the celebration cake marking the Craft Cottage's 50th anniversary.

Dannevirke Spinners and Weavers celebrated a unique event when it marked the 50th anniversary of its Craft Cottage in McPhee St.

The group is understood to be the only club affiliated with Creative Fibre New Zealand to have its own premises.

In recounting the history of the Spinners and Weavers group, secretary Anne Willis said it was formed by a group of spinners in 1968.

Meetings were held in the Federated Farmers rooms in High St.

A year after the group formed, the first national wool festival was held in Wairoa, which was attended by the Dannevirke group. The festival was organised by New Zealand Wool Spinners, which is now known as Creative Fibre, as the Wool Board wanted to promote its product.

The group’s first president, Alison Rasmussen, led the drive to obtain its own premises. She knew the owner of the cottage and when he died she told the group she “knew of the perfect rooms”. However, it was several years before the group had its own space.

In 1973 the Dannevirke group hosted that year’s wool festival, despite only having a small number of members. It was held in the Sports Centre and attracted a huge number of visitors.

Dannevirke High School students put on a fashion show of garments they had created and there was even a men’s team entered in the spinning competition.

Anne said back in those days the host group kept the proceeds of the festival and it was this and a small bank loan that enabled it to buy the cottage for $1700.

Despite all 14 members of the group signing the loan agreement, it had to be put in the name of the husband of one of the members as women were not allowed to take out loans at that time, Anne said.

Over the years members have worked hard to raise money to repay the loan and make improvements to the cottage.

“We’ve had cake stalls and raffles such as the once popular pig in a barrow and we held an annual sale of good-quality pre-loved clothing that attracted people who would line up on the street to buy things,” Anne said.

As the cottage stood on a large section, members had separate garden allotments that they had to keep tidy.

This changed in 1985 when the Dannevirke Art Society placed its studio on the site.

Having its own premises has allowed the spinners and weavers group to grow over the years.

“We’ve had many talented spinners, weavers, knitters and crocheters among our members and we have won the Manawatū area award four times,” Anne said.

Initially, the group was affiliated with Hawke’s Bay but the carless days scheme of 1979 made it difficult for members to travel to events there so members decided it was easier to join with Manawatū.

The Dannevirke group holds an annual dye day, when members dye their wool in the open air. Other clubs are invited and one memorable year 600 people attended.

The group has in the past held knitting and crocheting classes and now runs a weekly knitting session at Dannevirke Library.

While the group sells some of the items members create they also donate much of their work, particularly blankets and babies’ singlets.

In its heyday, the group had 50 members but today there are 21 so it is on the lookout for new and younger members.

Weaving sessions were held on Wednesdays but, currently, no one is weaving.

The spinners, knitters and crocheters meet every Friday.

At the function to mark the 50th anniversary of owning the cottage, Anne outlined the history of the club.

“It’s important for the newer members to know how hard past members worked to get the cottage.”