Embroidery

Hawthorne & Heaney visit’s S.E.W’s International Contemporary Stitched Art Exhibition

December 26, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Last month, the Society for Embroidered Works held their very first exhibiton dedicated solely to embroidery. The International Contemporary Stitched Art Exhibiton was held in a characterful space in Clerkenwell, the turn out for quite a niche exhibition looked to be pretty good.

‘Despite her strength she remained on guard 1’ 25×21 cm by Christina MacDonald

The exhibition a great cross section of stitched art in its many forms, as you can see from the few photos included here, the range was quite broad so there was a little something to interest everyone.

‘Lady Gaga’ 34×34 cm by Sarah Gwyer

Providing a platform for stitched art is an important step in elevating the stitched art’s status within the artwork as historically it has been downgraded from art and though of more as ‘women’s work’ or ‘home crafts’. Whilst one might argue these terms to be fair, it would be equally fair to say that given the skills and conceptual strenghts of these pieces shown are most certainly ‘art’.

‘A Benediction from the Old World’ 62×46 cm by Kate Tume

Presenting them in this manner is an important part of S.E.W’s bigger mission to ‘redefine’ the stitched arts to a more apropriate status. If you would like to read more about S.E.W’s mission, have a look at their website.

‘Sisters’ 56x72cm by Bridget Steel-Jessop

Given the level of work on display at this first exhibition, we can’t wait to see what they will present to the art world next year!

‘The girl of the Vale’ 33x30cm by Rowena Liley

Hawthorne & Heaney for Ugg Boots

November 14, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

With Christmas approaching, we are springing up all over the place for personalisation event. We go into stores, with our machines and personalise people’s purchases from that store while you wait adding that extra special touch.

Recently we have been going to Ugg stores, in a wide range of locations, to add people’s initials to their Ugg boots. Most of these events were all on the same days in all the different locations so it didn’t matter where you were, we were probably close by!

Le Marais Store, Paris

Manchester Store, UK

Oberhausen Store, Germany

Lyon Store, France

St Germain Store, Paris

Bluewater Store, UK

Westfield Store, London

We have a few more of these Ugg events coming up in December, so watch our instagram for details of where you might be able to catch us while you can.

Hawthorne & Heaney for FKA Twigs

July 31, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

It has been three years since FKA Twigs has given a live performance so when she announced her return to music with new songs and the ‘Magdalene’ tour, it was a safe bet that it was going to be epic. From all accounts, she has not disappoint as many people have been describing as ‘a masterpiece’ (anothermag.com) ‘feels at times more like an avant-garde dance piece than a pop show’ (NME).

Unsurprisingly, when superstar stylists Ed Kay and Matthew Josephs contatcted us, we jumped at the chance to work on the embroidery for the tour costumes. We produced a series of 5 pieces which formed a part of this visual treat and are delighted with how they turned out!Bandana and head scarf with leopard print sleeved corset

Leopard print sleeved corset

Monogram silver corset

Hawthorne & Heaney on Textiles in Art

April 9, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Embroidery, much like fabric, is not made to last forever. So when we are looking for examples of historical textiles, sometimes, they simply do not exisit anymore as the fabrics disintergrate with age and use. However we do still have a source of what textiles might have looked like in their glory days in the form of painting.

During a recent trip to Amsterdam in the Rijksmuseum, we came across some wonderful examples of historical painting which showed great detail of the textiles that they protrayed.

Girl In White Kimono by George Hendrik Breitner

1894

most likely showing a print of Japanese origin

Pendant portrait of Oopjen Coppit By Rembrandt

1634

Demonstrating the fineness and whiteness of her flat lace collar

Portrait of Emperor Napoleon I by François-Pascal Simon baron Gérard

1804

Depicting traditional goldwork techniques and bullion fringing

We also have had one of our interns, Amy Pickard working on a project for us in house where she chose a painting which featured a beautiful piece of textiles and has been working to recreate it herself.

For the project, she starting point with a visit to the National and National Portrait Galleries. Here she collected primary research of examples of historical textiles. There was a lot of symmetry and geometric shapes as well as a heavy use of floral motifs. It was wonderful to see so many paintings with gorgeous details and being able to name techniques documented.

Hawthorne & Heaney on Textiles in Art London Hand Embroidery

After the trip, the photos were sorted through and drawing were made of some of the details. For this she used a lot of Ecclesiastical paintings or portraits of past nobels.

Along with the photos she assembled a moodboard to help to keep her on track with the aims of the project.

Having attended a tambour beading class with our partner company, (London Embroidery School) she decided to recreate one of the motifs using this technique.

And then followed up with two other samples on velvet in CAD machine embroidery using similar repeats from the isolated motifs.

All in all we are really excited by the outcomes of the project and think that Amy should be really please with them too!

Hawthorne & Heaney on Bespoke Patches

March 15, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Last month, we had the pleasure of working on a bespoke patches order which pushed the boundaries of what we usually produce as it was for a very fast turn around. With the order being for 900 piece and only a coupld of weeks to the deadline, we really had to hit the ground running with the project.

By the end, with them all lined up, we were very pleased with the results of these freestanding pieces so we thought we would share them with you.

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#appliqué #spangles ✨
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Hawthorne & Heaney for Miss World

January 25, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Once in a while, a job comes along that doesn’t really feel like it was real. One such recent job was making the Miss World sash for 2018’s contest.

It’s fair to say that it has got to be the most prestigious of beauty pagents, so we were very pleased to see 2018’s winner Vanessa Ponce de Leon from Mexico wearing the sash.

Up close, the sash is made of silk dupion with a scattering of swarovski crystals across it and a delicate silver chain. The lettering is in a metallic blue with a silver finish that adds to the shine when it is on stage.

We look forward to seeing what wonderful things this worthy winner gets up to in the coming year.

Hawthorne & Heaney on Crests

January 16, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Looking through our portfolio, there are lots of lovely examples of family crests in both hand and machine. These are usually in quite a traditional style with the sort of imagery you would expect from this sort of historical imagery; lions andleaves, scrolls and mantels. Every now and then, we get a customer that comes to us because they want to bend the ‘rules’ a little, and with the nature of bespoke ordering, you can do just that.

We had a lovely chap come into us with his design for a crest that he wanted to have embroidered onto a bathrobe for his father. The gift was to be presented to him on his 80th Birthday and so our customer wanted it to be extra special. Therefore he produced a design of his father’s favourite things and worked them into the crest.

Such a nice idea right?! What would you include?

Hawthorne & Heaney for the Worshipful Company of Broderers

October 11, 2018 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Last month, The Worshipful Company of Broderers held a fashion show, dedicated to the best of embroidery in British Fashion. Hawthorne & Heaney was invited to be involved and naturally, it was an opportunity that could not be missed.

The Worshipful Company of Broderers is a livery company, dedicated to the protection and promotion of the art of embroidery. Also known as ‘The Brotherhood of The Holy Ghost of the City of London’, it was originally formed in the middle ages, receiving a Grant of Arms in 1558 and its first Charter on 25th October 1561 from Queen Elizabeth I. Charitable works lie at the core of the company as it functions today, with the fashion show acting as a fundraising event for their charity; Fine Cell Work and the Broderers’ Charity Trust. Fine Cell Work teaches needle-work to prison inmates and sells their products. Established in 1997, Fine Cell Work now operates in more than 15 prisons to empower and rehabilitate inmates in preparation for their sucessful return to society.

On what was a very balmy September evening, the company gathered beautiful examples of british embroidery work from well known designers such as Bruce Oldfield, Clements Ribeiro, Jasper Conran and Beulah, one example of which can be seen above. The show was held in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral, London with the ladieswear mostly demonstrated beadwork with an array of evening gowns on show (as seen above).

Hawthorne & Heaney was invited to contribute to the show in the form of these goldwork waistcoats for the gentlemen to wear. These were later auctioned off to raise further funds for the cause.

The first features a circular dove motif on purple with silkworks for the center and a cutwork edge.

The second piece was this striking pair of rampant lions on red.

The lions are most embroidered over raisings with cutwork, a pearle purl edges and silver/red accents throughout.

For more information on any The Worshipful Company of Broderers or Fine Cell Work, follow the links in the text above.