A Swedish signed tapestry by Handarbetets vänner early 1900s ca 86x161 cm

Association formed on the initiative of Sophie Adlersparre to "in the patriotic spirit and artistic direction refine the Swedish textile handicraft".

H. set up a pattern studio, distributed textile assignments to weavers around the country and in 1924 started training weaving teachers. Since 1964, Handarbetets Vänners skola has been training consultants and leaders in handicrafts. Under the leadership of Agnes Branting, H. around the turn of the century began to make large woven wallpapers from cartons of e.g. Carl Larsson, Zorn and Gunnar G: son Wennerberg. Then the so-called The HV technique, a simplified tapestry technique performed in an ordinary loom. In 1931, Greta Gahn became the leader of H. and in collaboration with the artist Alf Munthe developed monumental, abstract patterned fabrics, mainly for churches. When Edna Martin became CEO and artistic director in 1951, an era of vital innovation with great artistic breadth began. Textile artists Sten Kauppi and Kaisa Melanton became associated with H., and collaborations began with artists such as Siri Derkert, Lennart Rodhe and Max Walter Svanberg, who created large textiles for the public environment. Edna Martin was succeeded in 1978 by Åsa Bengtsson, who led H. until 1996