HAWTHORNE & HEANEY

Embroidery Specialists

craftsmanship

Hawthorne & Heaney Explores London Craft Week

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Last week was full of London Craft Week events, workshops and open houses. A few of which we had the delight to attend including an open house and embroidery demonstration at Erdem, an exhibition of embroidery artist Rosalind Wyatt’s work and a talk and demonstration by the Heritage Craft Association on the red list of endangered crafts.

We also have enjoyed participating ourselves with twice daily live stitching on display in The Service on Savile Row – thank you to everyone who came to see us!

TOAST & Rosalind Wyatt

Hawthorne & Heaney Explores London Craft Week London Hand Embroidery

We started the week with a trip to lifestyle brand TOAST’s London store where they were running a series of workshops and an exhibition of Textile Artist Rosalind Wyatt’s work titled ‘Stories through Stitches’

Hawthorne & Heaney Explores London Craft Week London Hand Embroidery

Rosalind Wyatt is a mixed-media and embroidery artist, most recognised for her embroidered letters and calligraphy. Some of these beautiful pieces were on show in store!

She considers handwriting a significant part of culture and people’s lives. Where calligraphy and cloth meet in her work signifies the emotion held in the textiles, emotions found in handwritten letters

She writes with her needle onto garments people have worn, encapsulating their emotions into their clothes.

Hawthorne & Heaney Explores London Craft Week London Hand Embroidery

TOAST was also running a live workshop where participants leant the art of mixed-media textiles.  The workshop aimed to promote a more thoughtful way of life, sustaining traditional textiles techniques and craftsmanship.

 

Erdem Open House and Demonstration 

Hawthorne & Heaney Explores London Craft Week London Hand Embroidery

We were then lucky enough to attend Erdem’s open house to see some of their embroidery in process.

The demonstration featured a neckline for one of their dresses, being embellished in large crystals and beads on a frame, the dress itself was also on display in store to allow viewers to see the final outcome.

Hawthorne & Heaney Explores London Craft Week London Hand Embroidery

Erdem is a womenswear brand, based out of central London. Their collections are often finished with hand and machine embroidery – it was wonderful to see some of these samples too which were on show alongside the demonstration.

Hawthorne & Heaney Explores London Craft Week London Hand Embroidery

 

Heritage Crafts Association Endangered Crafts

To end our London Craft Week adventures, we finally had the pleasure of attending the Heritage Crafts Association event held at Fortnum and Mason.  Fortnum and Mason are known for their long-associated traditions with craft and quality – the perfect venue to hold this event!

Hawthorne & Heaney Explores London Craft Week London Hand Embroidery

Exhibiting their work was ‘Paula Carnell’ a Bee Skep Maker, ‘Coates English Willow’ who are a company of Basketwork Furniture Makers and ‘Ernest Wright’ who is a traditional Scissor Maker. These crafts are all at risk with Scissor Making and Basketwork Furniture Making being Critically Endangered.

Basketwork Furniture making is a recognisable craft, however is critically endangered as only one company which supports the craft is left.  P.H Coate & Son was founded in 1819, and although the business has a new apprentice this wonderful craft is at risk!

Hawthorne & Heaney Explores London Craft Week London Hand Embroidery

The straw baskets used in Beekeeping, known as Bee Skeps are beautiful objects in and of themselves.  The straw is twisted and bound in a continuous coil of lipwork with lapping (lapping can be made from bramble, willow and hazel). Whilst highly practical the craft started to wane after the First World War as Skep making is a highly time-consuming craft compared to its value.

Hawthorne & Heaney Explores London Craft Week London Hand Embroidery

The final endangered craft on display was scissor making.  One of the last remaining companies to produce this craft is Ernest Wright.  The scissors are very high quality and long lasting – a durable crafted item.

We hope you have enjoyed London Craft Week as much as we have, thank you to all of the wonderful events that we attended!

 

More information about endangered crafts can be found on Heritage Crafts Association’s website

https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/redlist/

 

Words by and Images: Rosie Watkins

In Discussion with Lisa Grainger for Walpole

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It’s always a surprise and a delight when a writer for the Times Magazine calls, so you can imagine our feelings when Lisa Grainger got in touch for a chat in preparation for her latest column for Walpole: The Value of Craftsmanship. The piece came out on their website today so follow the link to read all about it.

In Discussion with Lisa Grainger for Walpole London Hand Embroidery

We feel very passionatly about the importance of craftsmanship and maintaing these precious skills so it is with much gratitude that we thanks to Walpole and Lisa for the opportunity to be featured.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Smythson’s London Craft Week Event

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In addition to our own classes and exhibiting work at Anderson and Sheppard, we also were demonstrating goldwork at Smythson’s LCW event. They had a series of craftspeople set up in store to show some of the process that their items go through.

At the front of the store, Meg was positioned, drafting and embroidering the Smythson’s ‘S’ into a bespoke badge. This piece will have been drafted, raised, appliqued and embroidered with cutwork bullion.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Smythson's London Craft Week Event London Hand Embroidery

On another counter, one of their book binders was stationed, explianing the properties of the binding process that thie products go through, the importance of using 2 types of glue for each piece and why they have maintained their hand processes over using machines. Finally they had another lady applying the tissue linings into their envelopes which also all done by hand.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Smythson's London Craft Week Event London Hand Embroidery

They also had a lady doing freehand calligraphy, where you could write down your name for her and she would draw it out on a card for you to take home.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Smythson's London Craft Week Event London Hand Embroidery

There were so many great ways to get involved with Craft Week this year, we cant wait to see what they will have on next year as it gets bigger and bigger each year!

 

Hawthorne & Heaney Visits The Louis Vuitton Series 3 Exhibition

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London seems to be alive with fashion exhibitions and installations at the moment so Hawthorne & Heaney have been making the most of the location privilages and have been enjoying the culture on offer. One such opportunity is at the Louis Vuitton’s Series 3 exhibition on the Strand.

The exhibition is staged as a walk through Nicolas Ghesquiere’s mind coming in underneath a hugely imposing hanging ball grid structure in a highly mirrored room, a theme that runs throughout.

The exhibition is a great example of how technology and fashion can come together as art, which is effectively used in the laser room. Green lasers from the ceiling cut down around what seem to be meaningless shapes below but as time goes on, and all the pieces are cut out, they come together seamlessly to form a shoe or a handbag. This then slowly transforms into the CAD mock up of the finished piece with all its fastenings and details.

Hawthorne & Heaney Visits The Louis Vuitton Series 3 Exhibition London Hand Embroidery

You then move on to see a more real world explanation of the making of the Petite Malle bags in the Artists hands room where close up videos are shown of how the bags are put togther. This is then renforced by as you are also able to interact the the makers in person in the Craftsmanship room.Hawthorne & Heaney Visits The Louis Vuitton Series 3 Exhibition London Hand EmbroideryHawthorne & Heaney Visits The Louis Vuitton Series 3 Exhibition London Hand Embroidery

Seeing the makers constructing in person really helps to give a sense of the difficulty and intricacy of these bags which are made like trunks, but on a much tinier scale. This combination of rooms flows easily through the design process, from idea to drawing and development, to the construction and realisation. Hawthorne & Heaney Visits The Louis Vuitton Series 3 Exhibition London Hand Embroidery

There is a little look back at the history of the trunks, from some of the earliest made pieces to others that show their development in size, shape and material in a dazzlingly white room.Hawthorne & Heaney Visits The Louis Vuitton Series 3 Exhibition London Hand Embroidery

Finally there is the rare opportunity to see upclose some of the garments that you have been watching walk towards you throughout the exhibiton, but more so to feel them as they are hung in a giant perpex wardrobe installation. This demonstrated the variety of fabrics and qualities that have been used in the collection including whitework lace, jaquard, leather, fur and diamantes.Hawthorne & Heaney Visits The Louis Vuitton Series 3 Exhibition London Hand Embroidery  Hawthorne & Heaney Visits The Louis Vuitton Series 3 Exhibition London Hand EmbroideryAs an embroiderer this last room and the craftsmanship rooms were probably the most interesting of the exhibition as they give a good understanding of the craft and techniques used in their creation. One does leave the exhibition feeling a little disorientated by all the mirrors and lights which drew the attention away from the skills themselves. However from the general public’s point of view this provides an interesting fusion of technology and art whilst perhaps giving a little glimpse at the chaos of Ghesquiere’s mind.

If you would like to see the exhibition and decide for yourself, it is on until the 18th October at 180 The Strand, entry is free so make the most of it!