On Nantucket’s storied Main Street, luxury boutiques peddling artisanal goods are not exactly hard to come by. At first glance, Nantucket Looms seems like just another one of these storefronts, but up the back stairs is something of another world. There you will find an unexpected scene: five women, bent over giant looms, weaving.
“When people come into the shop they’re like, ‘Why is there an exercise class going on upstairs?’” laughed master weaver Becky Peraner. “Kids love it. They’re just mesmerized by the sound in the movement.”
Since 1968, the production weaving studio has used time-honored techniques and the finest all-natural fibers to create goods, all year round. The weavers in this island shop have evolved the brand into into a world-class home furnishings and gift shop showcasing hundreds of artists, including basket-makers, carvers, jewelers, painters and photographers, as well as the works of over 80 Nantucket artisans. But weaving remains their bread and butter.
The process behind the art is in many ways simple. Weavers use a machine called a loom to hold the fibers as they work. The loom stretches a set of threads vertically, parallel to each other, collectively known as the warp. The horizontal thread is then woven across the warp by hand — over and over again — to complete the textile.
“The way you set your harnesses up to your pedals and the way you press them pre-determines the pattern,” explained Peraner.
Be it a throw, place mat or napkin, each weaver at Nantucket Looms sees their project through from conception to completion. For throws and blankets, the largest handwoven pieces available at the store, the process can take up to two weeks.
“For our weaving, it’s decided with our arm span,” said Peraner, “because nothing’s automated up here. It’s all done by hand.”
In a world of mechanical processes, handweaving on simple looms is the road less traveled — and for good reason.
“A gentleman came up here once, who had a mechanical loom, and said that his loom could do 1,200 picks a minute,” said Chris Brashear, a weaver in the studio. “And so that got me curious, and I did the math, and I figured out that I did approximately 2,500 picks in a day. So his machine could do my entire day’s work in two minutes.”
The weavers at Nantucket Looms take pride not only in their craftsmanship and artistry, but also in the community they’ve built. Currently, all of the weavers are women.
“I’ve had guys come through here,” Peraner said, “but we are primarily a woman-operated business, and we pride ourselves on that, being all strong working moms.”
A part of keeping the business going is keeping the craft alive, an effort Peraner has committed herself to for decades by training dozens of young weavers. Her first lesson is always the same.
“One of our sayings up here is that the perfection of imperfection is in your human hand,” she said. “It’s just who we are as humanity. And we all make mistakes, but they’re all wrapped up into the person you are, or the piece of art you make, or the textile you make, but nobody’s perfect. And that’s a beautiful thing.”
