Hawthorne and Heaney

Ceremonial Embroidery

April 7, 2022 by Connie Mabbott

Embroidery is a popular addition for university, legal and military ceremonial dress for robes and uniforms. For small scale commissions from private enthusiasts to full sets of robes for well know heritage companies Hawthorne & Heaney have the privilege of working on ceremonial embroidery for projects all over the world.

Ceremonial Embroidery London Hand Embroidery — Gold cut work cuff embroidery

We pride ourselves on our ability to produce traditional cut work and purl embroidery at home and overseas with reliable lead times and faultless quality. Our experts have over 40 years experience in the ceremonial gold work industry making our product and service unparalleled.

In contrast to this we also run a digital embroidery workshop and are able to offer incredible results, with extremely short lead times. With lots of experimentation we have developed our own unique way to create the traditional hand embroidery and gold work effects using the digital process. These techniques and skills are what gives our small team the ability to produce stunning, large scale pieces within a very tight turn around.

If you wish to get in touch with us about embroidery for ceremonial dress, head to our contact page for our contact details and we will be delighted to help with your enquiry.

Hawthorne & Heaney for FKA Twigs

July 31, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

It has been three years since FKA Twigs has given a live performance so when she announced her return to music with new songs and the ‘Magdalene’ tour, it was a safe bet that it was going to be epic. From all accounts, she has not disappoint as many people have been describing as ‘a masterpiece’ (anothermag.com) ‘feels at times more like an avant-garde dance piece than a pop show’ (NME).

Unsurprisingly, when superstar stylists Ed Kay and Matthew Josephs contatcted us, we jumped at the chance to work on the embroidery for the tour costumes. We produced a series of 5 pieces which formed a part of this visual treat and are delighted with how they turned out!Bandana and head scarf with leopard print sleeved corset

Leopard print sleeved corset

Monogram silver corset

Hawthorne & Heaney on Crests

January 16, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Looking through our portfolio, there are lots of lovely examples of family crests in both hand and machine. These are usually in quite a traditional style with the sort of imagery you would expect from this sort of historical imagery; lions andleaves, scrolls and mantels. Every now and then, we get a customer that comes to us because they want to bend the ‘rules’ a little, and with the nature of bespoke ordering, you can do just that.

We had a lovely chap come into us with his design for a crest that he wanted to have embroidered onto a bathrobe for his father. The gift was to be presented to him on his 80th Birthday and so our customer wanted it to be extra special. Therefore he produced a design of his father’s favourite things and worked them into the crest.

Such a nice idea right?! What would you include?

Happy Christmas from Hawthorne & Heaney

December 21, 2018 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Just a note from all of us at Hawthorne & Heaney, wishing you a Happy Christmas and a great New Year.

We look forward to seeing you in 2019!

The studio is now closed until 4th Jan 2019, when we will be back as usual.

Hawthorne & Heaney: Internship Opportunity Available

September 18, 2018 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Hawthorne & Heaney is currently looking for an embroidery intern to join us for an immediate start.

We are looking for a current undergraduate fashion/textiles/costume student to join us in the studio for a 3 month internship. Duties will include machine and hand sewing, general administration, maintenance of the social media sites, research, assisting with embroidery preparation for both the staff and for the School and errands. Time is also set aside from duties to develop your own embroidery skills during your internship. Applicants must be hard working, versatile, enthusiastic, professional, responsible and able work well in a small team. Attention to detail is a must along with patience as nothing in embroidery is particularly quick.

Specific Needs

Sewing skills are essential, and a proficiency in both hand and machine sewing would be ideal.
Computer knowledge of both MAC and PC, ideally with an understanding of adobe programs and G drive
Trend aware
Looking to gain experience in a live studio in the embroidery sector
Must be a current undergraduate student of a fashion/textiles related course
Able to travel into London every day

This internship is unpaid and should be taken in addition to a current undergraduate course, we are therefore unable to accept non students for this position. Hours are full time, Monday- friday 9-5pm.

If you would be interested in furthering your studies please fill out the attached form.

Elsie Wong (Former Intern) with her sample work

Hawthorne & Heaney on Embroidery Repairs

August 23, 2018 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Embroidery repairs is a topic we keep coming back to but we thought we would share another project with you where embroidery was used to breath new life into a damaged garment.

It is so pleasing when we are able to use a method that is usually about decoration only but also allow an item that would have otherwise have lost its use, to be beautiful and useful again.

Damaged area before embroidery

This jacket was made of a very rough grain tweed which through rubbing and wear had got damaged and started to ray over a large area of about 15 cm. The embroidery that was designed for the area was inspired by the Japanese practise of Kintsukuroi (golden repair) where broken pottery is fixed using gold laquer. It ties in with the philosophy of wabi-sabi, embracing of the flawed or imperfect which felt appropriate for this project given that we knew that the damage would still be to come extent visible but making the repair in an asthetically pleasing way makes the object becomes more beautiful for having been broken and fixed.

We used 4 shades of blue to reflect the different thread colours in the weave which are all in satin stitch to help to hold the damaged area together. Then there is a layer of gold metallic thread added over raisings to give it that laquered effect that is so significant to this technique and ties in with the metal details of the jacket. After the embroidery there were still a few threads to pulled through to tidy as can be seen and to reattach the hem, but we were very please with the end result.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Lack of Colour at Selfridges

July 6, 2018 by Natasha Searls-Punter

During last weekend, Hawthorne & Heaney set up camp in London’s Selfridges store for a monogramming event for Australian Hat brand ‘Lack of Color’.

‘Lack Of Color is the popular Australian label that produces a range of men’s and women’s hats available in seasonal colours and styles. Created by Tess Corvaia and Robert Tilbury, a creative couple from Queensland, Australia who aim to bring their loyal customers a range of innovative and wearable pieces each season.’ (Lack of colour About page)

Thanks to the lovely hot weather we have being having here, we were offering these hand embroidered monograms onto the hat ribbons or bands, usually of their strawhats as shown.

With a choice of 16 colour for the embroidery, the combinations on offer are numerous.

It’s always great fun working with such different and interesting brands in some of the best known shops in the world!

If you missed out on the opportunity to have your hat personalised in store and would like to get it done, this is something that we can do for you in the studio, get in contact with us by phone or email and we can advise you futher.

Or if you would like to put on your own hand embroidery event with us… get in touch!

We look forward to hearing from you.

Hawthorne & Heaney teams up with John Smedley

May 29, 2018 by Eleanor Rowlands

Here at Hawthorne & Heaney, we were very busy during London Craft Week. While having an explore around some exhibitions we also teamed up with John Smedley to personalise some of their lovely knitwear.

Founded in 1784 they are one of the longest-running knitwear manufacturers in the world. Specialising in beautifully designed garments that are made to last. Crafted in Britain and distributed all over the world.

In 1825 they moved on to producing garments using one of the first ever fully fashioned knitting machines, creating the original “Long Johns”.

Moving into the 1950s and 1960 the brand became very popular with many famous faces, from Audrey Hepburn to the Beatles. By the 1980s many British fashion houses saught the work of John Smedley, such as Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood.

In 2013 they were granted the Royal Warrant of Appointment.

Two of our wonderfully talented hand embroiderers spent the day in their Mayfair store, offering a little something extra to their knitwear.