My love of fabric and textiles started at a very young age when I grew up in the West Midlands. Before she retired, my Mum was a soft furnishings seamstress and I would watch her making huge pieces of colourful patterned fabric into amazing things with such precision! I went to sleep with the reassuring whirring of the sewing machine as my Mum worked away into the night on many an occasion finishing her jobs. My Mum used to ask me 'does it bother you' and I'd say 'no I like it' I found it soothing!
The perks for me were offcuts of fabrics and old sample books which I played around with, Mum helped me make little purses, things for my Sindy Dolls house and then when I was a bit older I worked on patchwork pieces for cushions and various little sewing projects! I started off using an old hand crank Singer that used to be my Nans and then I got my very own electric pedal machine around 12 years old! The excitement, it feels like yesterday!
It was a very creative home to grow up in, my Dad loved oil painting, woodwork, metalwork (he made me incredible toys over the years - a roundabout, a dolls zip wire from my bedroom to the garden, a grocers shop, a Sindy/Barbie boutique... ). Mum also loved her knitting and celebration cake making, so it was inevitable that creativity ran through my blood!
So not surprisingly, I went to study Art and Design straight from school and that led me to do a Textile Design degree in Derby where I specialised in woven fabrics. I've dabbled over the years in various creative area's making silk painted greetings cards which I used to sell into local gift shops, and then when I moved to Kent over 20 years ago when my daughter was nearly 3; I ran a wedding stationery business for 10 years. I loved working with my Brides and Grooms and bringing their stationery vision to life.
Now I've turned full circle and here I am playing around making things with fabric again (just a bit older)! Every item is made with love and care and a little happy sigh of creative satisfaction. I hope you enjoy my items as much as I love creating them for you. Deb x