Weaving in progress…
A first glimpse of my super special collaboration with Samuel & Sons @samuelandsons
Launching at Paris Deco off (next week!) on 15th January.
I’ve just received an advance copy of my new book and it is so glorious!
I’ve written, designed and photographed 160 pages devoted to the art and craft of contemporary Passementerie, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to show you a sneak peek.
My book is the first book ever published showing you how you can create your own Passementerie at home using easily accessible equipment and materials. My book is a riot of colour, textures, fibers, materials and FUN!
Discover the secrets of the Passementier, unveiled for the first time in print with my step-by-step hardback book. From creating intricate, lavish fringes to bold and graphic braids, my book guides you through creating 11 different projects.
My book is available for pre-order (available to ship internationally) through my website and it will be published on January 28th 2024!
This year is a special one for me - it’s my 10 year anniversary of working with the amazing craft of Passementerie!
I can’t quite believe I have been exploring this endangered craft for a decade (eek!) I feel so lucky to be able to work with Passementerie everyday, raising awareness of what this amazing heritage craft is all about.
Here I am pictured in January in my old studio @the_experimental_weave_lab gazing at at one of my smaller artworks. The photographer @jeffgilbertphoto kept kindly reminding me to keep my chin up to prevent the dreaded double chin…Weirdly my outfit matches the artwork, not intentional but a happy coincidence!
Hand passementerie is the art of making tassels, braids, fringes and rosettes, or as passementier Elizabeth Ashdown @ashdowntextiles puts it, ‘jewellery for your home’. One of just a handful of people still working in the craft, Elizabeth is on a mission to bring it back from the brink of extinction with her beautiful bold designs in arresting colours aimed at a contemporary market. Learn more about her work and recent collection for @samuelandsons in my interview with Elizabeth in the June issue of @homes_antiques
A few precious places just opened up…
Due to cancellations, 3 spaces have become available on my Heritage Reimagined: Contemporary Marie Antoinette tassel workshop hosted by the lovely Jennifer @cotswoldstextileworkshops
Join me 18–20 June in the heart of the Cotswolds at the wonderful @cotswoldtextileworkshops for a three-day passementerie adventure into the world of truly fabulous tassels.
Over three luxurious days you’ll work with traditional passementerie methods and equipment to create one exquisite tassel in your own choice of colours — finished and ready to hang at home on a door handle, window treatment or as a beautiful curtain tieback.
Please see the booking link in my stories and bio for all the class information. Alternatively click through to @cotswoldstextileworkshops
A plethora of Passementerie spotting in Paris last week 👀
I squeezed in a quick dash to Paris fitting in 5 spectacular exhibitions in 4 days. I had a hunch that these exhibitions would feature unusual antique Passementerie and I was not disappointed!
Passementerie is always overlooked in every exhibition & display. It’s hardly ever mentioned in an exhibition, and when it is mentioned it’s usually a label stating ‘Passementerie made from silk’. Embroidery, beadwork, needlework, feather work, etc, always featuring prominently with lots of information about the designs & the makers included. Sadly Passementerie never receives the same attention. It simply seems to fly under the radar.
These wonderful tassels feature on a bed @museecognacqjay in a ‘à la Polonaise’ style from 1739-1814. The bed also featured layers of handwoven silk braid, delicate silk cords and a fabulous canopy festooned with fringe, jasmins and little twisted torsades. Perfection!
My November Passementerie class @auverasoie_officiel has sold out!
Ten places for a two-day Passementerie class in one of Paris’s most extraordinary spaces — and every single one of them sold in two hours last night!
Thank you to everyone who booked. I cannot wait to welcome you to Paris in November. To everyone who tried and missed out - thank you for wanting to be there. A waitlist is now open for cancellations — the link is in my story.
Passementerie deserves to be kept alive. You are helping make that happen 🪡 🧵 🏵️
The studio is coming together, slowly but surely 🌈 Sorting my cones of cotton into colour order was such a joyful experience and against these green cabinets, it looks even more beautiful than I expected. For years I’ve kept yarns tucked away in plastic bags, protecting them from moths and dust but losing the joy of seeing the colours. My new glass-fronted cabinets feel so special. I can see everything at a glance but without fretting about unwanted visiting critters!
A space built with love, and slowly being filled with it too.
My new studio in Surrey was built by my brother and my late father during one of the lockdowns, and it recently came to me as one of the most precious gifts I’ll ever receive.
I’ve been spending my days finding a place for everything - 4 looms, yarns, Passementerie tools and trimmings and even roping various family members in to build, move and organise all manner of kit. My lovely husband very kindly gave up his Easter Friday to build cabinets and cupboards. A true family affair!
It’s far from finished. But then, the best studios never really are. There’s a lot more sorting to do - including building 3 looms, one of which is a very special, recent acquisition. Watch this space!
In time, I’ll be welcoming people here for 1-2-1 sessions and small group workshops - a quiet, hands-on place to learn.
More on that soon 🧵 🪡
Some things never get old — like the joy of a perfectly twirling tassel 💜 I made this one by hand, drawing on Passementerie traditions that go back centuries. This tassel is made from a beautiful array of silk yarns and I’m told by the tassel’s owner that it dangles beautifully from a key in her house.
Bespoke passementerie for @jenniferkleincouture — every thread considered, every colour deliberate 🧵 🪡 🎀
This braid was hand woven to order for one of her latest jackets, woven with textured yarns from Italy, France and Japan to complement her fabric perfectly. Couture clothing deserves couture Passementerie 💜🤍🩵
The joy of a tassel mould!
A box of delicious hand turned tassel moulds has just arrived from my wood turner.
If you’re joining me in the Cotswolds for my Marie Antoinette inspired tassel class - these are the moulds we will be using.
