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Hawthorne & Heaney on Bespoke Tablescapes

April 29, 2020 by Natasha Searls-Punter

With a new home comes fresh ideas, we created this table linen set especially for the owners new house designing the monogram based on the house’s name. Though the design itself is quite simple, the raised tonal stitching gives the napkins an understated impact, which is taken a step further in the table cloth with the added transparent element.Particulally at the moment, with so many of us spending so much more time at home, whether we are working or not,home decor has become more important to us than ever. We thought you might find this set a moment of inspiration. It’s not just for home owners though, in recent years there has been a big rise in renters interest in soft furnishings. With so many people renting for longer than previous generations, soft furnishings have seen an increase in popularity as people look for ways to make their place feel more homey.

Hawthorne & Heaney Visits Tutankhamun at the Saatchi

April 7, 2020 by Natasha Searls-Punter

The Saatchi Gallery is currently home to the artefacts of Ancient Egypt as they play host to the travelling exhibition ‘Tutankhamum: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh‘. We went to visit while the opportunity presents’s itself and because who doesn’t love gold on gold, on gold?!

The exhibition features over 150 artefacts from Tutankhamum’s tomb, ranging from large to very small, like this amulet above which can only have been about 3-4cm high.

The pieces on show really make you appreciate the craftsmanship of the makers in ancient egypt. These pieces are here for us to enjoy because they have been preserved so well, but they are beautiful because they were made beautifully in the first place.

It has very hard to try to wrap your head around how old all these things are. Looking at items in a museum from the Victorian era for example, look old and when you try and think about the people who might have owned them, they feel so far removed from us. But those items are not even babies by comparison to the pieces you see at this exhibition.

The pieces themselves are well displayed and fairly succinctly explained in the accompanying descriptions through the main body of the downstairs of the exhibition. Upstairs is more about how the excavation was made in the 1920’s, discussing the process and pitfalls they endured.

At £28 per ticket, this is a bit of a pricey exhibition to visit and while there lots to see, that is a lot for a exhibition. That being said if you are looking for an opportunity to see something different, this might very well be the place for you to go.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk

March 24, 2020 by Natasha Searls-Punter

As a member of the V&A, I try to visit most of the temporary exhibitions they put on in the fine institution that is the Victoria and Albert Museum. At the start of March, they opened their doors on their newest addition ‘Kimono:Kyoto to Catwalk‘.

Held in North Court of the building, this exhibition brings a little Asian influence to their corner of the world. The Kimono is a fascinating piece of social history, carrying so much culture and responsibility within its relatively simple folds.

Kosode: From Edo period demonstrating Yuzen dyeing (Cloth tube fitted with a metal tip used to apply a thin ribbon of rice paste, then dyes are brushed within the paste boundaries) 1730-70

I won’t go into all the history as you should be able to make your own discovery of the exhibition and enjoy it fresh yourself, but I will show you a few of my highlights which may stir your interest. For an embroiderer or anyone interested in textiles, the exhibition is full of wonderful examples of hand embroidery and lesser known textile techniques. They draw a lot of attention to them, which was something I had not necessarily expected of the exhibition but was delighted to realise. As the basic form of a kimono is very clean and unfussy, once the structure of the garment has been addressed and the pattern explained there is not very much more to say about the shape. It is the varying and evolving elements of the details displayed on them which holds all the intrigue. Even though this is a fashion exhibition it is the textiles that does the lion’s share of the talking.

Design for a Kimono 1800-50

The historical examples at the start of the exhibition were very strong, the pattern books were a surprise but of course it makes great sense to sell such a garment in this way, with patterns being chosen and customised from a book rather than remade examples. The women of the elite military class could have designs made specifically for them, particularly for special occasions.

Detail from Kimono of a Geisha- a very elaborate example demonstrating the parallels between fashion and the theatre in 18th Century Japan

On the embroidery front, there are many great examples of goldwork and silk floss/ silk shading styles throughout the exhibition. The lion above is quite an extravagant example, taken from the back of the kimono shown in the first image of this blog. Amazingly, the lion is only a very small part of the work on that kimono probably only measuring about 20-25cm high and isn’t even the main centre back motif. However I’m sure you will agree it is an exquisite use of Japanese thread (cotton core wrapped with gold leaf paper).

There are also a few pieces that feature a dying technique called Shibori which you may have heard of. It’s use is using much larger scale and bolder than the examples on the kimonos where it is used to create very small and delicate designs, creating a much more subtle and quietly expensive impression. The technique is quite labour intensive as it require parts of the fabric to be tied off very tightly before dying so they are left in negative as can be seen in the white squares pattern.

Uchikate- Outer Kimono for a young woman featuring Shibori and embroidery 1800-50

When Japan opened up its began trading with western countries such as Holland and Portugal, we can start to see the cultures influences each other, as Japanese kimono makers start to make kimonos from cottons South-east Asia and foreigners eager for everything Japanese started to use Japanese fabrics for their own pieces.

Day Dress: Misses Turner 1876-8

Japanese influenced robe, Victorian Era

Towards the end of the exhibition they turn the attention to more modern applications and influences of the Kimono. This includes pieces from modern fashion houses such as Dior, Commes De Garçons and Alexander Mcqueen. This room brings the exhibition full circle, they also demonstrate the cyclical nature of fashion as you can pick out the elements of kimonos that have influenced that ‘new’ piece.

‘High Voltage Power-Lines’ Yamawaki Toshiko 1956

Evening Dress: also by Yamawaki Toshiko (1956) featuring Obi like bow and scrolling asymmetric designTextile details, couched goldwork and red embroidery imitating kanoko shibori

While this last room holds many beautiful pieces, the real gems of this exhibition are the historical pieces. Many people will be familiar with what a Kimono is on sight from walking through the Asia exhibits, but this exhibition delves so far into this garment and unpicks the elements of it. The V & A puts on lots of great fashion exhibitions and in London we are spoilt that we have fashion specific exhibitions at all. But as this one puts so much detail into the textiles and processes, it has something special to offer in my opinion.

Hawthorne & Heaney Craft through the Crisis

March 20, 2020 by Claire Sarah Barrett

There is no doubt about it, these are uncertain times for all of us.

To protect our staff and customers, we have isolated our manufacturing and design departments who are now working remotely. We also have measures in place to ensure quality and lead times will not be affected.

Hawthorne & Heaney will do our best to continue to provide all of its services during this crisis.

Until advised of total isolation measures our central London Office will still be open, albeit on an appointment only basis for deliveries, pick ups and consultations, please call or email to arrange your appointment. If you require contact less pick up or drop off please do let us know in advance.

Here at Hawthorne & Heaney we will continue to innovate and we will hopefully bring you some rays of stitching sunshine over the next few weeks. We appreciate the outpouring of support from our embroidery community, friends, loved ones and newly met neighbours and are looking forward to making a positive contribution back to our local and stitching communities.

We are also excited to see what our amazing and resilient design and manufacturing team are getting up to in their isolation and will be sharing it all via our Instagram and Facebook, so give us a follow !

Stay safe, keep creative lets make the best of this !

Love

the Hawthorne & Heaney team.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits the Designers Guild Exhibition at the Fashion and Textiles Museum

March 5, 2020 by Natasha Searls-Punter

The Designers Guild is a renowned design studio that has played a key role in the world of interiors. Established in 1970 by Tricia Guild OBE, the Designers Guild has since reinvented interior design within our homes. From furnishing fabrics,wallcovering and upholstery to bed and bath collections, it has grown from its humble beginnings in London to becoming an influential global successful brand.

Out of the Blue: Fifty Years of Designers Guild is the exhibition currently being held in celebration of its long history and influential power at the Fashion and Textiles Museum in London. It explores the creative approach of Designers Guild’s founder, Tricia Guild OBE, looking at her inspiration, design methodology and the techniques, processes and materials that go into each and every collection.