Category Archives: Fabric

100% percent design – a few highlights

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Songbird-banner100% percent design could have been 100% overload, but I was on a super-market sweep of design shows on Friday, so extremely focused on designers, makers and products that fit the carefully curated bill of form, function and friendly to the environment.

A quick sweep down the ‘Emerging Brands’ alley revealed a few eye-catching stalls.  First, some delightful lamps made from laser-cut birch ply by Drws Y Coed on Anglesey.  Next were clean, contemporary printed fabrics, wallpapers and lampshades from Lorna Syson (pictured above).   Lorna’s collection of interiors accessories use sustainable materials such as wool, nettle and organic cotton.

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Desinature‘s collection of lamps and nest boxes reflects a love of the natural world, and desire to inspire people to connect with it.  We loved the honey comb lampshades made of felt and dyed with environmentally friendly inks, and the new Lily lampshade made of FSC-certified paper.  Their products are all made in the UK, and come delivered in a neat, folder that slips through the letterbox.

Once out in the fray, we were also drawn to St Judes’s artist-designed wallpapers and fabrics.  Their fresh, subtle designs are printed in small runs in Norfolk.  The Glade pendant lamp from James Smith Designs in willow and steel cast a wonderful dapple light.

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Watching Ben Creed, craftsman and designer at deVOL kitchens  at work in the flash factory behind the deVOL stand, it was fascinating to see all the tools and sawdust surround the spindles and seat in progress.  An opportunity to pause and reflect on the skill involved in working with wood.

A quick pitstop at David Colwell’s stand to admire the O range.  The chair, made of steam bent ash and recycled copper tubular rivets, is extremely comfortable.  Using the latest in saw technology, David has developed a method to eliminate two thirds of the timber processing and virtually all of the need for dust extraction from the construction of the chair.

With a last gasp before I headed over to see ao textiles, I took in the Corkigami chair from Carlos Ortega.  The seat is made of cork and water-based PVA glue, and the whole chair can be easily assembled and dissembled.  Around the tree has made another innovative use of cork, as an upholstery material on its chairs.  There was more cork on display at Design Junction……

P.S. the Mankin mitts arrived

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Just a quick postscript to an earlier blog about a special offer on Ian Mankin products.  My new oven mitts and oil cloth table cloth have arrived, and already facing up to the rigours of life in our busy kitchen!  I am particularly happy with the matt-finish of the oil cloth.  It is a more subtle than the previous oilcloth that covered our kitchen table, “grown-up” was the phrase my other half used. It doesn’t scream, “Wipe-clean” in quite the same way.  And when I find a minute, I will be (attempting) making a shopper bag from the off-cut…..

Welsh blankets

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We recently made a trip to the Brynkir Woollen Mill in Golan, Gwynedd, North Wales.  The weather was drizzly and we could hear the sound of the mill stream before the mill appeared out of the mist.

The mill is one of a handful of woollen mills still in operation in Wales, and produces traditional double cloth bedcovers known as tapestries, as well as other woollen products.  The tapestries are made of 100% new Welsh wool, so hard wearing and breathable.  They are also fully reversible, with a different colour dominating on the reverse, and finished with short fringes on two sides and the mill’s own label.  We bought two tapestry bedcovers, one in a sea salt blue and coral for my daughter’s bed, and another in more muted, natural tones for the guest room.  These blankets are adding some warm, soft colours into our bedrooms, and celebrating Welsh heritage.

Similar Welsh blankets from the Great English Outdoors featured in the August issue of Living Etc magazine.  For a truly comprehensive catalogue of Welsh blankets, nursing shawls and carthenni (woollen bedcovers) visit Jane Beck’s virtual ( and real) Welsh blanket emporium.

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Sofa saving

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A mid 20th century sofa bed caught my eye in a retro furniture shop in east London a few weeks ago, but it had a fairly hefty price tag.  The sofa was made by Greaves and Thomas of Bond Street and I soon found another on eBay that needed some T.L.C. with teak oil and reupholstery.  The only decision now is which fabric?

Earlier this year, I went to the Wool House exhibition, organised by the Campaign for Wool,which was full of inspiration and explanation of the benefits and uses of wool.  So why wool?

  • Wool is warm and cosy, helping to reduce heat loss and improve energy efficiency, and save money.  That same cosiness also provides sound absorption so helping to reduce noise transfer between rooms.
  • Wool is durable, and bounces back under heavy footfall when used as a carpet, retains its colour and form in upholstery and provides continued support in a mattress.
  • Wool is clean and help the indoor environment breathe.  It is hypoallergenic, captures dust, contaminants and moisture, so reducing the level of humidity.
  • Wool is naturally fire retardant, and so does not need additional treatment of fire retardancy that some upholstery fabrics do.   It has low flame spread and will not drip, melt or release noxious fumes.
  • Wool is also low maintenance, as the fibre’s structure repels spills and soiling.

It is also a beautiful natural fibre available in every texture, pattern and hue, with lots of it produced here in the UK.  So on my shortlist are some 100% wool fabrics from Linwood, Bute Fabrics and Kirkby Design…..

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Free Ian Mankin oven mitts, and apron offer….

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I am a great fan of Ian Mankin fabrics.  Their contemporary twist on some British classics look great, and have good provenance.  The fabrics are made from 100% natural fibres and over 90% are woven in this country in their own traditional Lancashire cotton mill, which has been run by the same family for six generations.  The range includes tickings, stripes, checks and plains, and it is well-priced.  Perfect for a seaside retreat, or in our case, urban bathroom.

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And this month they are offering a free pair of oven mitts with purchases over £100, or oven mitts and apron on purchases over £200, so it could be time to update the oilcloth which is vital to preserving our kitchen table from all manner of mishaps!