Strike offs part one

The first set of strike offs are now complete – we started with the two colour prints as they are the most difficult, next we’ll move on to the single colour prints.  It’s always hard to get the perfect two colours to work with the two colour designs, especially as I often use transparency in my… Read more »

Working on a new palette

The post New Year period is always a time of reflection and changes and this year has been no different, although now we’re in March and I have no idea where the time has gone. Since Bella, my apprentice, started last August things have been very different in the studio, it’s been great having another… Read more »

May Stack

I recently started a subscription to Stack and just had my first delivery, the latest edition of Wrap magazine. I’ve never come across Wrap before but fell in love with it at first flick through. Sheffield has a serious deficit when it comes to good magazines, our local WH Smith’s has all the usual suspects… Read more »

May print-fest

May has been a none stop print-fest, from custom orders to commissioned work then the culmination of my AA2A artist residency at Sheffield Hallam. It’s all been a bit of a whirlwind really.  Here is some of the work I’ve been doing… I can’t share with you some of the commissioned work I’ve been doing… Read more »

New design launch offer

We’re delighted to announce that we have a new design launching for Spring 2015 – Clouds is printed on our British Woven linen and organic cotton mix fabric and is suitable for a range of interiors and crafts uses. This new design was developed from mark making sketches, part of a new exploration into accidental… Read more »

Unfortunate week

Last week I worked like a crazy lady and had a small team of helpers, also working like crazy ladies. This week I’m stuck at home and not happy about it.  I had a stupid accident last week which meant that I had a nasty bump on my head, gash to my eye and a general good… Read more »

Hepworth Print Fair

I’m delighted to have got a place at the new Hepworth Wakefield Print fair, it’s on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st March at The Hepworth Wakefield, Gallery Walk Wakefield, WF1 5AW, 10-5pm, free entry. I’ll be there with a new range including new colours of my Thorns and Thunderbolt prints. I’ll also be bringing my new Clouds… Read more »

Colours in the park

I took a walk in Millhouses park to try out my new camera and snapped a few photos which I hoped would give me some inspiration for my new collection colours. Not only was I taking photos of natural greens, browns and oranges but I found a bit of inspiration in the graffiti of the… Read more »

Knitting Challenge

This is always the time of year when I go crazy just trying to get Christmas presents knitted, this year I just have the one though – a jumper for Owen. After Christmas 2012 I decided to stop knitting presents for the whole family and I must admit, it’s led to a much calmer December.  This year I… Read more »

Open Studios November 2014

We had our annual Open Studios last weekend and this was our busiest year yet. Yorkshire Artspace do a fantastic job and all the studio holders make such an effort  to show their studios off to all the visitors.  Unfortunately I was still struggling to shake this virus that arrived, went away, and then came back 3… Read more »

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Latest

  • Test printing the new designs

    This week has seen the start of the test printing of the three new designs of the Spring/Summer collection.  I announced their names last week and now here is the chance to see a sneak preview of the designs themselves.  All three are test printed first on unbleached calico, the final designs are then printed… Read more »

  • Fabric Friday – The Hand Printed fabric Swap

    This week I have an interesting fabric story to tell.  I’m shortly going to be printing some fabric for a hand printed fabric swap and I can hardly contain my excitement. Lesley, the hugely talented lady behind Maze and Vale, runs a hand printed fabric swap, this is the 3rd event so far.  I meant to… Read more »

  • New Base cloth

    I’m always searching for new fabrics to print on and this time I think I’ve hit the jackpot.  My main goal for this year was to find a heavier weight fabric which would be suitable for a variety of home interior uses.  I love my current hemp and organic cotton cloth, it’s been my staple… Read more »

  • What’s in a name?

    Naming a fabric is on the whole very easy, but how do you know if you’ve given it the right name?  I tend to stick to very descriptive names for my fabrics so I go with either the name of the pattern or the inspiration behind the design.  This week I’ve named my three new… Read more »

  • Fabric Friday – Metres of fabric

    Another of my old favourites will shortly be available by the metre, this time it’s Pods.  I won’t be adding this design to the new Spring collection though, instead it’ll stand alone as an archive design and will be printed up in a new range of colours plus some old favourites too. The idea was… Read more »

  • Spring Colour Inspiration

    I’m working on a set of new palettes for the Spring Summer collection and so I’ve been looking through some of my photographs for inspiration.  I took this photo of a lovely field of marigolds at the Eden Project in Cornwall.  

  • Fabric Friday – Test printing with colour

    My latest collection is almost designed so I’m in full colour mode at the moment and have  already started thinking about the colours I want to use for these new prints.  This has led me to a slightly different Fabric Friday this week. When mixing new colours I always do a test print of spots… Read more »

  • Bundles of fabric

    Last week I was a very busy gal.  One thing I was determined to fit into my week though was finally putting some scrap packs of fabric together.  I have a huge pile of hand printed offcuts which I use for a variety of different things but my collection is now completely out of control… Read more »

  • Fabric Friday – Home Sweet

    This week I’ve picked out some gorgeous fabrics by the very talented Jennifer Nelson of Home Sweet.  All of her items are block printed which gives a wonderful look and quality to the fabrics.

  • Book Review: The Vintage Pattern Selector

    Any book that covers my two favourite subjects of vintage style and clothes-making is definitely worth a mention and if it happens to also be a flippin’ good book too then that’s even better. The Vintage Pattern Selector is part history book, part how-to guide and contains a wealth of information about clothes from different… Read more »