Photo by Dan Haworth-Salter, courtesy of SiT Select.
About
Stitching is in my genes. My maternal great, great grandmother made exquisite hats under the label ‘Madame Louise’ in London’s West End. Her sister in law was an accomplished embroiderer.
My grandmother took ‘Madame Louise Ltd’ to Nairobi and after recruiting a group of talented Italian tailors, prisoners' of war at the time, she set up a furriers making hats, fur coats and fine handbags. She also created the most beautiful tapestries and embroideries from her own wools and silks, hand dyed on her farm in Africa. My mother, an exceptional couturier designed and made wedding dresses and trousseaus for Kenya's colonial society.
So with a passion for Art and Antiques fuelled by a degree in Art History and after a spell in the film industry, I found upholstery; my own form of stitching. I love restoring and reworking period and decorative furniture using traditional techniques; hand stretched webbing, hand tied springs and most of all hand stitched seats.