My current mood board

Normally by February I start dreaming of pastels and this coming spring's colours are beautiful. However the mood board in my studio is still reflecting the weather outside due to the relentless rain and howling wind. Since December I've removed the black and introduced greys to work back with my navy and indigo palette - so the mood is lifting a bit. But there are some lovely things on my board......

My friend Kate just gave me this gorgeous hot water bottle, as I have no heating yet in my new flat. It's so lovely though, that I'm keeping it at my studio until my building work stops. By Jules Hogan, she got it from Not On The High Street and it'll look fabulous with my crumpled grey, linen sheets from H&M 

The other fabrics on my board that I'm hoping to introduce into my interior scheme are from Eleanor Pritchard - I love this whole mix of pattern and texture......

So until spring arrives and my building works complete, this is my inspiration.

Black and Blue

I love this season's fashion trend for all things black and blue. So much so, that this is the invite I designed for our studio christmas party. The black silhouette is from a photograph I took of the Brighton Pavilion.

By coincidence COS launched these carrier bags at the weekend.
I remember a rhyme from when I was  young…"black and blue will never do" - just goes to show, rules are made to be broken.

Paul Smith at the Design Museum

Yesterday I went to the Paul Smith exhibition at the Design Museum. It was a bit surreal, as when I turned into the room that represents his office, there he was and he said hello! His assistant and press officer were there too, and they said they found it all a bit strange as the layout was exactly like their real place of work.
It's an interesting exhibition with lots to look at and you get a real feel for him and his business. The best part of the exhibition for me, is a film that captures the day of his Menswear S/S 2014 fashion show in Paris.
In the film he is talking about his brand and the fact that it is all about colour. He says "there is COLOUR and there is colour", and it's as much about a light navy and a dark navy, as lots of colour; that has real resonance for me.

The exhibition runs until 9th March 2014.  

Merchant & Mills - a maker's paradise

During the week I am a designer, but on the weekend I'm a maker. So it was wonderful to visit the Merchant and Mills shop in Rye - this really is a maker's paradise.

An emporium of everything to do with sewing from patterns and fabrics, through to all sorts of notions. Merchant and Mills is the creation of Carolyn Denham and Roderick Field. Carolyn is the maker, responsible for the patterns and sewing side, while Roderick is the graphic designer responsible for the  packaging and stationary.

As you can see from the photographs the store is beautifully considered, as is the Merchant and Mills website and online store. On the website they also have a great video about their enterprise see here.

So what did I buy? …. all sorts of hardware for my bag making, a super sharp awl, more tailor's chalk…. but best of all their Maker's Journal. This is fabulous, it's a note book that concertinas out. The beauty of this is that you can add fabrics and things without it bulging to one side. Also you can view all of the contents at once. I'll be using my Journal for my next big personal project - designing my new flat!

Carréducker Bespoke Shoes

I've just completed a course in making handmade bespoke shoes with Carréducker. It was an intense two week course, where Deborah Carré and James Ducker taught me everything I need to know to make my own shoes. Back in July I spotted a small article in Elle Decoration about the course, and that I could see Carréducker shoes in Gieves & Hawkes. So I visited Gieves & Hawkes in Saville Row to see the shoes and while I was there, I was allowed downstairs to the workrooms, to see where the shoes are made for their clients. I then arranged to visit their studio at Cockpit Arts near Holborn (see below) - I was hooked.

I decided "in for a penny, in for a pound" and ordered my own bespoke laste, as I knew I would want to make more than one pair. I chose a pointy toe which is more my style at the moment and the last can be slightly reshaped if I wish at a later date.

I had chosen to do the course because I make my own clothes and some accessories, but I've never made my own shoes. I was warned by Deborah that it would be really hard work and it would ruin my hands - and she wasn't wrong!

There were three of us on the course, where we learned something like 200 procedures including  hand-stitching the layers of leather sole with our own twisted hemp threads. You can read more about the course here. It was very tiring but by the final day, I really didn't want to leave. Hand stitching shoes is very therapeutic and at the end you have something so unique to you. I feel very privileged to have had this opportunity - absolutely the highlight of my year! 

Polishing up the almost finished shoes.

London Design Week

 Things I loved at last week's design shows.......

Louise Wilkinson's exquisitely naive fine bone china at Tent

these wonderfully considered utility products from Turner and Harper at Design Junction

and the beautiful upholstery fabrics from Eleanor Pritchard, also at Design Junction

Farrow & Ball new colours

I recently attended the launch of Farrow & Ball's new colours, pictured here are my two favourites"Mole's Breadth" above, and "Stiffkey Blue" below.

World Interior News asked me to write up my take on all the new colours - you can read it here:-
http://www.wantoday.com/interiorsblog/farrow-balls-new-colours-for-2013/