ANNIE KÈKI – ENGLAND

Animated by Henry Scott

I remember the first time I saw an animation by Henry Scott, it was as part of his degree show and was a paper-cut animation, it was delightfully detailed and beautifully observed and it was by far my favourite piece in the whole show.  It was about 5 years ago!

I remember thinking I would love to commission an animation by Henry, sometimes things take longer than you think but eventually, if you don’t give up, you will get there.

When I first started talking to Henry about this project I explained that I wanted the final piece to be charming.  He has delivered.

We built the set at the Atelier using things collected over many years and dotted about the atelier.  The story outline was a forgotten mannequin, in tatty clothes, abandoned in an attic wakes and discovers an old projector, in the illumination it provides, she discovers an old record and plays it.  Dancing in the light she is delighted to be alive once again.  She finds fabric and thread, makes herself a lovely dress, then she puts on an old, elaborate headpiece that would once have been part of her daily life.

However long it has been since you felt truly alive and bathed in light you can recapture that feeling.  Don’t stay in the shadows, there is a world just waiting to support your efforts and delight in your success.

Thank you so much Henry, for your creativity, hard work and perseverance.  I love it and hope we can make more in the future.

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique

We had such a great time last year designing and sampling the Children’s collection for the atelier!  We are starting 2020 with a whole new boutique based in the atelier. Work has started and we will be opening at the end of March. While we do not expect huge footfall the boutique will be a showroom and it is lovely getting personal interaction and feedback from buyers. We will have a retail site but expect the next 12 months to be a wonderful gentle reintroduction to the world of Children’s clothing. We may even be inspired to visit this blog a little more often! Still not a convert to the digital…I am definately analogue, hands-on and personal…eventually I think those who deserted the personal world will return..but I am not sure I will be alive to see it. In the meantime I cannot be lured into the fake online world and don’t mind being in the minority…no matter how small it is! I will however embrace…well gently stroke Instagram over the next 12 months because apparently if I do not no one in the entire universe will know I exist!
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique will be a fun place with limited edition designer children’s clothing and a couture service for that very special occasion. We look forward to introducing our modern silhouettes, natural fibers, classically English designs and first class service. As always we will be doing it with love in our hearts and enjoying every day…otherwise we simply do not do it!

eXtreme Knitting UK…is now part of our own label

Beautiful eXtreme Knitting Needles by eXtreme knitting UK

A few months after we decided to start a business selling extreme knitting wool and tools The Design And Sewing Studio is delighted to announce that after it was so popular we have now brought it in-house.  It is no longer a stand-alone site selling wool, tools, kits and all things knittingn to the public, we now only produce garments for our own label. We will be adding finished pieces for sale over the next few months as part of our A/W 19/20 collections.

Surface-Felted 100@ Merino Wool 17.5 Micron by eXtreme Knitting UK

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eXtreme knitting UK Made The Needle

Giant Wooden Knitting Needles

Beautiful Hand Turned Button Ends

We Love Our Mega Big Knitting Needles

Several years ago when we originally started looking for the tools required for the extreme knits we wanted to create it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.  So we decided to make them ourselves and now we are ready to make them commercially and offer them to our shoppers as part of our knitting kits.  We had big hopes for our extreme wooden knitting needles all handmade in England with beautiful button-ends and no unsightly screws.  The smallest needle above is 25mm diameter and 500mm length so as you can see we have gone big…and we are delighted.

All the size variations will be available to buy at extremeknitting.uk from 14 November 2016

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Giants…

Last week The Design And Sewing Studio worked on a community project making giant lanterns for a local event in November.  It was great fun, we learnt a lot and the final pieces were very impressive.  A lovely week spent with lovely people doing lovely things…how lovely!  The lantern shown is not quite finished and once finessed will be even more fabulous.

Extremely Exciting

It has been a delightful, but rather sedate, 2016.  We have not quite come to a stop but there has been plenty of time to smell the flowers!

However there is progress, some of the furniture has been fully restored and is looking fabulous…it will feature in a photo shoot later in the year.  We have also been creating some unique and beautiful pieces using the extreme knitting that is sweeping the globe.

We have enjoyed the process and the results so much that from 1st November The Design And Sewing Studio will be launching Extreme Knitting UK with a lovely new website and store to sell not only the enormous tools we have designed and now manufacture but also yarns and giant knitting materials we have developed.  The site will also sell our original designs and kits to allow you to create our original designs for yourself or loved ones.

It is extremely exciting and we look forward to the launch of http://www.extremeknitting.uk/ on 14 November 2016.

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1947-2016

From the age of 9 I have loved his music and image no fashion designer is without some kind of debt to Bowie.  I have a far more personal debt to the man who provided the shimmer to what could have been a dull childhood.

I cannot imagine how difficult it is for his family to say goodbye to such a fabulous person.

RIP David and thank you -x-

Happy Christmas

Sometimes I look at the blog for The Design And Sewing Studio and it looks like we have fallen off a cliff however we have had a very busy and successful year and had to work right up to the last minute to get everything done…so although we do not brag about it in our blog we have had a fabulous 2015.  I hope next year will better reflect the realisation of lots of the groundworks we have layed this year and the new ventures we have ready for 2016.

Could not let the season pass without wishing a Happy Christmas.

A Very Personal Journey

You will have to wait for the ‘after’ images

Launching a new label is not necessarily difficult but it is multi-component and time consuming.  When I decided to do this I was determined not to make the mistakes I had witnessed so many times.  I know what I want, a small but perfectly formed label, designed with passion, made in England, soaked in beauty, artisanship and love.  Designing the collections, finding the right fabrics, testing the capacity of the Atelier, sourcing home knitters and taking the time to enjoy the whole process has taken longer than I wanted because I want to launch fully formed.  I believe in walking before you run but I want to appear to be running when I first open my doors to the world.  As I have undertaken this lovely journey I have overcome adversity, developed my ambitions and now expanded my range adding interiors to the collections and accessories.

I have done interiors for many years but recently have been developing key pieces of furniture both antique and new.  It all started when I was looking for some great old pieces for photo shoots for the first collection.  My weeks of searching uncovered some absolute beauties and with my intervention some have been revived from a very sorry state to what I now consider to be not just statement pieces but near works of art.  The furniture projects opened a whole new door, I have now taken a new space for the photographs and storage of the beautiful interior pieces because my studio was starting to look like an antique shop.  I have spent many, many hours working in a small area at the back of a metal fabrication unit where they are happy for me to make as much noise and mess, as I need.  Having, angle grinders, pillar drills, airline riveting machines, soldering and welding facilities has come in very, very helpful too.

The development of the interiors was always on my longer term plans but it seems natural to bring it forward and launch everything together.  It has meant building new relationships with furniture manufacturers and led to collaborations with other artists.  All in all I am delighted to be taking the time to get it just as I want it.  After all I am in no rush, this is a very personal journey and one I always hoped would be a joy.

Jozia Krzeczkowska Hall

We promised to update this story of ‘Exodus’ and artist Josie (Jozia Krzeczkowska Hall) was again working on the piece over the past few weeks.  This time using aspects of the original piece to produce fabric using both screen printing and devoré techniques.

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