The Collection held by the Shetland Textile Museum at The Böd of Gremista in Lerwick comprises nearly eight hundred items, including Fair-Isle and lace knitting, knitwear, taatit rugs, tools, tweed, and items by contemporary Shetland makers. In addition, an Archive and Mini-Library is currently under development to complement The Collection.
The Collection has been developed over thirty five years traced through our history from the Shetland Textile Working Museum, to the Shetland Textile Museum of today, established in 2012. The first accession form is dated1995. We accept donations and have recently made many new acquisitions from contemporary Shetland makers, all richly adding to the Collection.
Fair-Isle and lace knitting from Shetland are known across the world, often featuring in the distinctive and diverse history of global, Scottish, and contemporary textiles, especially the history and technique of knitting. The Collection is available to the Shetland community, and to visitors from across the world, including designers, historians, knitters, researchers, artists and students. Access is through our exhibitions, events and demonstrations, during our participation in Wool Week and through personal appointments.
The Shetland Textile Museum acknowledges the vision of the late Bess Jamieson of Pointating, Walls, and members of the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers and Dyers, in collecting historic Shetland textiles and commissioning accurately made replicas of specific garments and styles.
The Collection is carefully curated, documented and stored at the Böd of Gremista, with advice from a specialist Textile Curator based at the Shetland Museum and Archives, and with support from Museum Galleries Scotland.
We welcome enquiries about our Collection and Archives, and seek to encourage public interest and research. For further information on this, and our charges, you can download our researchers form.
