Wairarapa farmer turns wool into yarn and high-end tweed with mini mill

“We’ve got the sheep, we’ve got the shearers and, as you’ve seen, we can make wool,” she told RNZ’s Country Life on a tour of the mill.

The mill is a large, airy, new building, just steps away from the shearing shed, with a viewing window so tour groups can watch the machines in action.

After much research, Vieno found a firm manufacturing modular systems for artisan fibre-makers, Belfast Mini Mills, based on Prince Edward Island in Canada.

She said she could even run it by herself if need be, although two people were ideal.

“If I’ve had a good night’s sleep, I can run three machines; so I can run the picker, the fibre separator, and the carder by myself,” she said.

The $1 million investment has provided locals with employment, including Mel Kiernan.

“I leapt into the breach when Patrizia had a really outlandishly large idea, and we’ve hit the ground running,” Kiernan said.

“For me, living rurally, it’s amazing because it’s very difficult to find non-on-farm jobs locally.”

Vieno and Clutton bought Rewa Rewa Station in 2011, after falling in love with it on a trip around New Zealand.

She is originally from Italy, with a background in interior design, and back in 2023, despite Cyclone Gabrielle damaging parts of the farm, she had hopes of expanding her growing boutique wool business.

Back then, she was already sorting, naturally dyeing and spinning the wool on the farm, and holding craft days to showcase the wool and bring together other wool lovers.

Patrizia Vieno imported a vintage loom used by a crofter in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides for making Harris Tweed. She plans to weave a Rewa Rewa Station brand of tweed on the loom, housed in her on-farm woollen mill. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round

Now, the garden for growing plants to create the dyes is developing, small batches of wool are washed, dried and machine-processed, creating fine and chunky knitting yarn heading as far afield as the United States and the United Kingdom.

“Each label on the skein of yarn that we produce will have a tag number for the individual sheep.

Patrizia Vieno at one of the machines used for separating, carding and spinning, imported from an artisan mill-making firm in Canada. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round

“So it’s very much provenance and traceability.”

Vieno believes her model is something others could take up around New Zealand, especially with strengthening wool prices, although she admits it has taken commitment.

Wool drying in a corner of the mini mill. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round

“It is very intensive. You need to have the passion because it’s a lot of work.”

The death of her partner amid the planning for the mill was another challenge on top of the damage caused by the cyclone, not to mention running a large farm with her manager Les Eden.

Wool from Rewa Rewa Station’s flock of sheep, including the Gotland breed, whose fleece comes in a range of earthy colours. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round

“What kept me going was the fact that we already decided for me to go ahead with this when Rod was alive.

“So he saw the foundation of this being laid, literally.

“Just after the cyclone, the first thing I did was to come down here and see if the water had touched the foundation, which it didn’t, so I know it was a pretty safe place to be, and then sadly Rod passed away a few months later, so he didn’t see any of this, but he’s with me.

“I’m sure he’s behind me and pushing me on, telling me off when I don’t do stuff quickly enough.”

– RNZ