Category Archives: LIFE LOVERS

As the old Yiddish proverb goes, “We plan, God laughs”. Eight weeks ago I wrote an article on the benefits of cold water swimming and how much I was hoping it would help me manage through the cold winter months of uncertainty. My last swim was on the 4th of Jan and as of the…

A few weeks ago, I wrote a tutorial on how to make a natural indigo vat, this was followed by a tutorial on how to create patterns using Indigo dye combined with Japanese shibori techniques. It seemed fitting to apply the techniques to linen and create an item of clothing from the fabric. I have…

“Form without colour is like a body without a soul”. Owen Jones was one of the most prolific and influential designers of the Victorian era, reinventing the ornate patterns and dazzling colours of the ancient world for a new era. A prolific polymath, his ideas spanned a huge range of fields including architecture, wallpaper, furniture,…

Have you seen images of a plant seed germinating? A condensed version of the germination story is the seed first soaks up water, then the roots start growing, growing, and then the first leaves break through the soil surface to be greeted by warm rays of sunshine. Throughout the process to maturity, a plant grows…

In my 10 years of sewing, I can say with confidence, there are few fabrics I love more than classic black linen. I keep coming back to it. Pair it with vintage cotton denim and a natural vegetable tanned leather bag, you have my ideal wardrobe.  A couple weeks ago, I made the AKIRA pants…

Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do. I’m an architect, but also have been working in pottery, sewing, and knitting in my spare time. I have been pursuing pottery for almost four years. I learned sewing from my parents when I was a child. They ran a clothing manufacturing business, making high…

The outside temperature dipped into the negatives this week in southern Wisconsin. Deep winter is among us. Tucked inside a drafty old farmhouse wearing many layers of wool with a space heater at my feet, I continued sewing my summer wardrobe. On the schedule this week? The MAGDA Pant in a NATURAL Linen. If you…

Zika and Lida Ascher were shape-shifting rulebreakers, who pushed the bounds of British fabric design in daring and unconventional new directions. Arriving in the UK at the outbreak of the Second World War, the young couple successfully redefined the bleak face of post-war British textiles throughout the 1940s with electrifying bursts of colour and life,…

Russian designer Anna Andreeva made a remarkable contribution to textile history, looking to the future with designs based on radio waves, electricity, algorithms and op art. Much like her predecessors Lyubov Popova and Varvara Stepanova, Andreeva combined the playful, abstract geometry of Russian Constructivism with industrial manufacture, spreading her ideas far and wide for the…

Lucienne Day was one of Britain’s foremost post-war designers, creating dazzling textiles that decorated almost every home across the country throughout the 1950s and beyond. Drawing on the English tradition for plant-based forms including flowers, grasses and seed heads, she went on to transform them into radical, abstracted repeat patterns, symbolising the regrowth of a…

The name Sonia Delaunay is synonymous with kaleidoscopic colours and prismatic designs that seem to splinter, shift and dance before our eyes. In a 60 year long career, her daring, vivid Simultaneisme encompassed paintings, textiles, fashion design, costume and interiors, making her one of the greatest pioneers of the Modernist era. While history has favoured…

We arrived at the lake on Monday evening around sunset. Snowy pine branches swayed in the wind. “I am home”, I thought. I grabbed my grandma’s old sewing machine from the car, the first item I packed for this winter trip to the cabin. The first to be unpacked, too.  This week, I’m working from…

“One has to dream. And one must stand out from the rest.” Armi Ratia Finnish design house Marimekko is world-renowned for its punchy, eye-catching patterns that have adorned everything from printed textiles to clothing, wallpaper, tableware and furniture. Founded by the power couple Viljo and Armi Ratia in the 1950s, the Marimekko brand transformed the…

The DEVIN Linen Pajamas are the perfect lounge set to boost your winter comfort! In recent years I know many, including myself, have caught on to the ideals of Hygge (pronounced HOO-GA). This lovely mindset of extreme coziness and comfort brought into every aspect of life was apparently started in the Danish culture. You can…

“No artistic success has given me such satisfaction as the sight of a peasant or a worker buying a length of material designed by me.” Liubov Popova Russian Constructivist Liubov Popova was a force of nature, expanding her creative ideas across painting, theatre set design and textiles. But many would say the bold, graphic power…