Eleanor Pritchard

Eleanor Pritchard is a creator of seriously elegant and easily covetable blankets, cushions and a recently added upholstery collection. Sophisticated colour palettes woven in wool, are realized in double cloth and other clever structures. With an ever-growing international clientele, its easy to understand why business is flourishing. It goes without saying I adore the work, but I also really admire the careful styling of all the shots of her products. 

In her own words:

I have always loved playing with colour and pattern. My work often has a mid-century quality and I feel a strong affinity for the aesthetics and design philosophy of this era. Alongside this runs a deep interest in vernacular British textiles and I see much of my work as a re-interpretation of these traditions and techniques for a contemporary audience.

All images reproduced with kind permission from http://www.eleanorpritchard.com/home.htm 

Jane Harper

Jane Harper is the 2012 recipient of the Peter Collingwood Charitable Trust Award for innovation in weaving. The award aims to recognize excellence for a loom-based textile and I know that this years winner would certainly have piqued Peters curiosity. Jane has created some highly complex multi-layered constructions which have become truly 3-dimensional once off loom. The layers are separated and held proud from the ground cloth with insertions of acrylic sheet.

Jane is recent Textile Design graduate from Central Saint Martins, and this work is from her final degree collection which she entitled Collapsable Constructions. She has now moved back to her home city of Manchester where she aims to use her award towards setting up her own studio. She hopes to develop her structural textiles into functional works that could be used in an interior context. 

Do check out her new website for more images of her degree work.

Solva Woollen Mill, Pembrokeshire

Solva is without doubt one of the prettiest villages in Pembrokeshire. For some obscure reason, despite being a Pembrokeshire girl (but now living 'away') I'd never got around to visiting Solva Woollen Mill. I don't know why, and being a committed weave-nerd, it makes me feel a little daft. So last week, I was back in the county with a little time on my hands and having read about the mill's newly renovated shop and tearooms that opened in Easter, I made the journey.

And wow, what a fantastic new space the owners Tom and Anna have created. I thought they must have commissioned a specialist retail/interior designer, but no its all Anna's work: she was a nurse in her previous life but clearly has an astute eye for design. The shop looked contemporary but visually told the story of the mill heritage by cleverly using lots of the old mill paraphernalia to display the stock and decorate the space. That's was me sold :-)

The mill specialises in flat woven rugs and stair runners. Most of the products are woven in 100% British wool that is dyed to their specifications. Aside from the stripes and checks, I particularly loved the traditional Welsh double cloth 'tapestry' rugs. The iconic motifs are familiar on bed throws but look surprisingly striking and contemporary in the chunky hard wearing wool for the floor.

They also weave a very elegant honeycomb/waffle fabric for blankets and cushions in a lovely charcoal or pea green colourway.

All lovely stuff. I highly recommend a visit........