Welbeck Tiles- Made in Britain

I love companies that support British craftsmanship and create bespoke products. Welbeck Tiles produce some of the most beautiful tiles that I have ever seen and make a real design statement in your home, whilst offering a truly personal service to all their clients.

This small-scale, batch production gives the tiles a truly unique quality which could never be replicated in mass-production.  All the tiles are made to an extremely high standard using a very labour-intensive techniques and only the best English materials are used, sourced from suppliers who too take great pride in their products.

Designed and made in a small workshop in Cornwall, using traditional techniques that have been in use in the pottery industry for more than a century, Brenda Bates, the MD and chief designer has a real passion for creating beautiful tiles.

Brenda has been involved in ceramic design and manufacture for over 25 years. After gaining an MA in Ceramic Design from Staffordshire University in Stoke-on-Trent, she went on to work in the ceramic tableware industry for a brief spell. Quickly realizing that this would be far too restrictive, as the industry was then very conservative in terms of decoration, she started her own company in 1988, producing china dinner services and giftware.

An extremely successful number of years followed, designing ranges for some of the world’s most prestigious department stores in the world, such as Bergdorf Goodman in New York as well as various London-based companies including the David Linley Furniture Company, Renwick & Clarke and the Irish Georgian Society. She also worked on numerous exclusive private commissions for some of the most highly-regarded names in Europe.

 In 1996, Welbeck Tiles was formed and with its innovative designs quickly grew to supply over 100 tile retailers throughout the country. They now only sell directly by mail-order and through a selected network of the best handmade kitchen companies in the UK. A lovely range of ceramic brooches and mugs is also available to buy online.

 

For more information and to view their stunning range; www.welbeck.com

 All the best

Sara X

Made By Hands of Britain

 

I just wanted to let you all know about this wonderful online platform for craftspeople. It has been going through some changes at the current time, but I think that what they are trying to achieve is very worthwhile. Their aim is to select the best products and services that can be found and to bring them together on Made by Hands of Britain. The many products shown are items that not only make a statement but will also become treasured possessions and heirlooms of the future. British art and craftsmanship is one of our most well-known and important industries; they have always been and will always be associated with excellence.

Made by Hands of Britain is an online promotional and marketing platform, for British Craftsmen and Women, to showcase and sell their work to those of you who appreciate the application of skill and craftsmanship in the production of functional items as well as aesthetic pieces of art that just cannot be found anywhere else.

Products range from; ceramics, food, clothing, furniture, bags, art and skincare,  all products are of a high quality and handmade using raw materials sourced from and made within the British Isles.

Made by Hands of Britain, also actively seeks to support those social enterprises who help, disadvantaged and disaffected people by teaching them hand-making skills that will not help to reconnect them with themselves and what they want to achieve in life but with the rest of society as well.

To view the online shop and blog see below

http://www.madebyhandsofbritain.com 

Sara x

 

Bespoke Wallpapered Furniture

Suzanne Rose

I came across this lovely furniture online, I like the idea of taking a piece of furniture and giving it a new lease of life, and they also look great and really make a statement. A fashion stylist in the music industry, Suzanne has been responsible for some of the most iconic images of the 80’s and 90’s : Pepsi and Shirley, Nik Kershaw, Duran Duran, Sinitta, T-Pau, Bucks Fizz, Musical Youth, UB40 and many more chart-topping acts.

To describe this range in the designers own words;

I make beautiful wallpapered furniture. Each piece is individual, unique, practical and durable having been coated with a high gloss lacquer. My passion has always been interiors and creating beautiful ‘things’. The more ugly the item, the greater the transformation.

To contact Suzanne about a commissioned piece email- suzanne.langan@gmail.com

Bespoke-To Wear....

Sarah Cant- Bespoke Hats

I love the vintage feel of Sarah Cants hats; they remind me of times gone by. Her hats are so feminine and flattering but also make a statement as well as been beautifully made.

Sarah Cant is a couture milliner devoted to making hats and headpieces from the finest materials, with an immaculate finish and attention to detail. She specialises in working to commission. Every bespoke piece is a one-off, created specifically for the client. Sarah also works on costume design for the Theatre and Bridal headdresses.

Her fluid, organic shapes are the result of combining tradition with innovation. The bespoke hats and headpieces are sculptural, designed to be as striking off the head as on. The style is both quirky and feminine, with an emphasis on strong, elegant shapes which flatter the face. All of the pieces are entirely handmade by the designer. Sarah states that her work is primarily materials-driven.

 I am inspired by a fine straw, a well-textured silk, a piece of wallpaper, and the endless supply of found objects such as old lace, postcards, photographs and buttons.

She trained at Kensington and Chelsea College and worked for Stephen Jones before establishing her own label. Sarah’s work is regularly featured in leading International fashion press and she has made bespoke hats for members of the royal family and well known fashion names.

In 2010, Sarah published Hats! Making Classic Hats and Headpieces in Fabric, Felt and Straw. The book has been published in the UK, USA, France and Spain, and is widely used as a teaching tool for millinery courses.

Sarah is Course Director for the highly-regarded HNC in Millinery at Kensington and Chelsea College and teaches regular short courses at West Dean College. She is a member of the innovative Studio Seven textile artists, as well as the Gloucestershire and Devon Guilds of Craftsmen.

Studio Seven

The Studio Seven textiles artists - Liz Lippiatt, Anne Rogers, Jenny Bicat, Kathryn Clarke, Corinne Hockley, Sarah Pearson Cooke, and Sarah Cant - work both independently and collaboratively to produce a beautiful and diverse range of textile-based artwork, clothing, fashion accessories, and soft furnishings using printing, dyeing, painting, felt-making, multi-media, and millinery techniques.

 To view more work or commission a hat go to www.sarahcant.co.uk

 I also have images in  http://pinterest.com/sarabrowndesign/hats-away

Sara X

Skirting Around The Issue

Bespoke Skirts- Alison Willoughby

This is one of my favourite textile artists.

Alison Willoughby is best known for making one-off, elaborately patterned skirts. They are as Alison  is an established and innovative textile designer, selling and exhibiting both in Britain and overseas, including the USA. Studying Printed and Knitted Textiles at the Glasgow School of Art, Alison went on to gain an MA in Constructed Textiles Mixed Media from the Royal College of Art in 2001. Her original interest in the skirt started because of the dissertation she wrote about the Kilt.  She originally intended her skirts to be wall art rather than to be worn, although several of the styles can be worn, and I think they look great, as they are so colorful and unique, and make such a statement. I have seen these several times as wall art and been worn, and the detail is stunning.

She was awarded the prestigious Crafts Council Development award in 2002 and has shown at the Chelsea Craft fair, and more recently at Origin. She has exhibited throughout the country including; Black Swan Arts in Frome, The British Council, The Crafts Council and the Arts Council, Gloucester City Museum and Arts Gallery. Alison was involved in London Fashion Week showing at Urban Outfitters. She has previously worked on commissions and freelance projects for; Liberty, Tait and Style, Habitat and Tse Cashmere.

Although known for her highly individual and hand constructed intricate skirts; she was initially called ‘skirt girl’. However, she has since branched out into menswear and women’s wear, shop and gallery installations, and has written her own book and been featured in several others. I have added the details for this at the end of the post.

For Alison, a skirt is more than just a piece of clothing; it is a work of art in its own right. Made without darts, they are flat, unaffected, timeless, classic and simple; they form the canvas on which she works, and she enjoys adding structure and interest to them with 3D objects such as glass spheres and hat pins. Part of her process is to layer fabric samples, one on top the other, then cut shapes out of them. These are then sewn down the middle and opened out to create a three-dimensional object, which is, in turn, placed in situ on a mannequin, sketched, and eventually sewn into position on the finished skirt. Cotton is favored as it is ideal base for printing, can be dyed in strong colours and can be embellished easily, using fabric manipulation rather than embroidery and applique.

The inspiration for her pieces comes from the depths of the inner city; lanes, alleys, passages, streets and terraces, places that are neglected, ever-changing, disintegrating and subsiding. Crumbling walls fly posters laid one on top of the other, weathered peeling paint, marks and stains, the kaleidoscope of colour, texture, tone, scale, shape, proportion, pattern, line and placement.

Alison’s work is featured in Textiles Now by Drusilla Cole, London Ateliers by Edition Paumes and Fashion Unfolding by Victionary.  Her own book is called 49 ½ Skirts and is available at Amazon.

If you want to try a workshop in bespoke skirt making go to the website for further information on both this and forthcoming shows.

This Is Alison Willoughby's Book  On Bespoke Skirt-Making

To sum up the work I have added an extract from the artist’s website;

I AM ENTIRELY INTERESTED IN MATERIALS AND PROCESS, MY AGENDA IS ALWAYS TO EXPERIMENT.

MY PRACTICE IS CURRENTLY EXPLORING THE IDEA THAT THE SKIRT (MY CANVAS, VISTA, MEDIA SINCE 2001) IS A TUBE OR CONE SHAPED GARMENT WHATEVER DISCIPLINE THAT MAY LIE IN. I BELIEVE STRONGLY IN NOT PLACING WORK WITHIN A SINGULAR CATEGORY, BUT EXPLORING WHAT CREATIVITY CAN BE THROUGH A RANGE OF ART FORMS. THE CREATION, PROCESS AND MEANING BEHIND THE WORK IS THE DRIVING FORCE, NOT THE ART FORM. MY OWN PRACTICE, USING DESIGN PRACTICE AS A STARTING POINT, IS MULTI-LAYERED AND DRAWS ON DIFFERENT APPROACHES AND GENRES. FUNCTION NON-FUNCTION, WITHOUT THE CONSTRAINT OF COMMERCIALISM.

DECONSTRUCTING, CONSTRUCTING AND RECONSTRUCTING THE PRECIOUS, MUNDANE AND SENTIMENTAL FLOTSAM OF THE CITY INTO AN ENCRUSTED MULTITUDE LAYERED PLAYGROUND.

www.alisonwilloughby.com

As always I have added some wonderful images for you, but I also have a Wearable Art and Cutting Edge board in Pinterest, which has more images and features other textile designers, you may find interesting.

Happy skirt sewing!

Sara x

This example is shown on a distressed wall