Renegade Craft Fair, coming soon!

Please come and visit me at The Renegade Craft Fair next month. I'm busy making lots of pieces that would make perfect Christmas gifts, come along and have a look and say hello!

The Shell Grotto, Margate

It's no secret that I love the seaside and all things sea related, so last week I was very happy to be invited on an outing to Whitstable and Margate in Kent!

 After lunch in the lovely Whitstable (will definitely go back there to explore the vintage shops and eat more seafood!) we headed on to Margate to visit The Shell Grotto. I hadn't heard of The Shell Grotto until very recently, but I'm so glad to have had the chance to visit, it's amazing!

 It's unknown how old the Grotto is or who made it- the most popular story of it's discovery comes from 1835 when the man who owned the house above the Grotto was digging a pond in his garden and he uncovered a huge hole. He lowed his young son into the hole, who reported back of tunnels completely mosaiced with shells! I can't even begin to imagine how long it must have taken, even the ceilings are covered!

I would thoroughly recommend a visit here (we also visited The Turner Contemporary whilst in Margate so we made a day of it), it's an intriguing and inspiring place and a little out of the ordinary.

Pretty Whitstable

New necklaces in progress!

I'm up early sewing necklaces for The Renegade Craft Fair using the pieces I machine knitted last night in lots of new colours! Once the bases are finished the next job is choosing the up-cycled fabrics to embellish them with. Looking forward to showing you the finished pieces!

On my needles...

I'm currently knitting (with help from a lovely friend) letters in beautiful Rowan Felted Tweed to make "Louise Dawson Design" bunting! I'm going to hang this on my table at Craft Fairs and events, with it's first outing being The Renegade Craft Fair in November, so I'm busily knitting away!

I've used felt letter bunting in the past, but when I saw the Sirdar pattern for knitted Alphabet Bunting I knew I had to make it, it's very me!

Hair Slide making!

I've had a productive week in the studio Hair Slide making! I'm making these using up-cycled fabrics, vintage buttons and even a little bit of crochet! These will be available to buy on my stand at The Renegade Craft Fair at The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London on the 9th and 10th November. I'm working hard to make lots of lovely new things for the fair, hope to see you there and share them with you!

Notice the ever present cup of tea!

A few ready to go!

Love London 2... Spitalfields

I've had a lovely day today with my friend and fellow Textile maker, checking out Spitalfields Market and the Sunday Up Market in Brick Lane, London. We've shared a stand at Spitalfields on a Friday several times and we're aiming to start selling there on a Sunday soon... Watch this space! Markets are a great chance to meet Designer Makers and discover beautiful unique pieces- my idea of a great Sunday!

Spitalfields

Heaven, millions of vintage  scarves! We both invested in several!

Yum! Lovely cakes and doughnuts from the Big Doughnut stand 

The Sunday Up Market is just a couple of minuteswalk up the road from Spitalfields

Inside The Sunday Up Market, which was amazing, cram packed with lovely clothes, jewellery and food

New Brooches!

Some new pieces I've made in the studio today today... Harris Tweed brooches and also knitted brooches, embellished with recycled fabric pieces. Each one is unique and perfect for accessorizing in the cold with big knits and a winter jacket! I like to wear a big cluster of them together for a hit of colour.

These ones are heading to an event I've got coming up (more on this soon!) but you can check out similar ones in my Etsy shop.