Yahoo Finance Forget dreary doilies, craft decoration is back - and with a bold new look
Craft was once a dirty word, says Kit Kemp, co-founder and design director of Firmdale, the boutique brand behind the Ham Yard, Soho and Charlotte Street Hotels. “It was thought common compared with art and dropped away from popularity, but now there is an audience again. We want something in our homes that is unusual.”
Kemp points to this as the force behind the rise in embroidery, collage and appliqué in interior design. But forget old-fashioned florals and delicate doilies – this is bright, bold and brand new.
At the new Ned Hotel in London, Soho House’s joint venture with Sydell Group, the bedrooms have been decorated with patterned soft furnishings, from the four-poster bed canopies to hand-knotted Afghan rugs. In one of the main event spaces, the Tapestry Room, the top half of the wall is embroidered on all four sides.
While the Ned’s look is traditional, Kemp has created a whimsical interpretation of nature and mythological creatures in her hotel schemes. Felt appliqué animals and trees adorn oversized wool headboards, while dining chairs, sofas and lampshades are decked out in colourful patterns.
“Repeatedly I return to my love for the loom and embroidery,” says Kemp. Hand-crafted pieces “appear immediate and of the moment, which makes a room more exciting and alive”.
For the past 10 years, Kemp has worked closely with Fine Cell Work, a charity that helps rehabilitate prisoners by training them in paid, skilled needlework. Prominent designers such as Kemp, Ben Pentreath and Daisy de Villeneuve draw up the designs, which are embroidered into products by the prisoners, who are paid a third of the retail price of the item – regardless of whether it sells.
Handmade cushions, quilts and tote bags are available to buy online, and there is a pop-up shop open until July 2017 in Pimlico Road, where you can also commission larger pieces such as headboards or stools.
A major selling point of these pieces is their individuality, and this is particularly true of Dorset-based designer Eleanor Goulding’s work.
A painter by training, her composition is unplanned, giving the final product a mismatched, natural feel. She calls it painting by stitch.
“I keep a daily sketch book,” says Goulding, “but when it comes to stitching the curtains I put the sketchbooks away and allow the work to be intuitive.”
Her new collection of curtains is all hand-embroidered in a range of coloured silks on natural raw linen, available at Denman & Gould. “Part of their appeal is the amount of time that has gone into each curtain,” she says. “Hand-stitching is something that can take a very long time.”
If embroidered curtains feel like too big a statement for your first step into stitchwork, try smaller furnishings instead. Naomi Paul’s lampshades are hand-crocheted from a selection of soft, coloured Egyptian cotton. The material is milled and dyed in Italy and then knitted into cord yard in Lancashire before arriving at her East London studio. Paul’s work marries artisan skills with sculptural lighting to create products that are beautiful and have a practical use as lampshades.
Each one is handmade; a standard pendant shade can take up to 40 hours to make, while a commissioned piece can take up to six months. Paul shows that intricate needlework and pattern design doesn’t need to be overwhelming. “I am interested in exploring quiet objects and the ways in which they can be both highly crafted and visibly functional but also remain subtle and understated.”
From couture to cushions, fashionable handicraft has worked its way on to the high street. Toast has a range of oversized hand-appliqué cushion covers, made in India in collaboration with a fair trade organisation, for £95. Graham and Green’s summer collection includes appliquéd “character” cushions inspired by Frida Kahlo, available for £39, while Anthropologie is always a safe bet for all things textured and tufted.
If you prefer the make-do-and-mend mentality as an art form then look to Tom van Deijnen, known as Tom of Holland, whose visible mending programme seeks to counter “fashion’s throwaway culture”.
A self-taught textiles practitioner, he works primarily with wool and turns “old, imperfect” items into stylish products for new owners. His blankets, with their neatly darned holes in contrasting thread, are popular as sofa throws.
Getting itchy fingers? Try your own hand at craftwork at Selfridges, where van Deijnen and other members of the British makers group The New Craftsmen will be leading workshops as part of the pop-up A Home For All, on display until June 9.
