2017

Hawthorne & Heaney for Smythson’s London Craft Week Event

May 9, 2017 by Natasha Searls-Punter

In addition to our own classes and exhibiting work at Anderson and Sheppard, we also were demonstrating goldwork at Smythson’s LCW event. They had a series of craftspeople set up in store to show some of the process that their items go through.

At the front of the store, Meg was positioned, drafting and embroidering the Smythson’s ‘S’ into a bespoke badge. This piece will have been drafted, raised, appliqued and embroidered with cutwork bullion.

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A little goldwork embroidery demonstration by @hawthorneheaney 's Meg at Smythson on Saturday for #lcw2017 #embroidery #goldwork

A post shared by Embroidery Specialists (@hawthorneheaney) on May 8, 2017 at 2:00am PDT

On another counter, one of their book binders was stationed, explianing the properties of the binding process that thie products go through, the importance of using 2 types of glue for each piece and why they have maintained their hand processes over using machines. Finally they had another lady applying the tissue linings into their envelopes which also all done by hand.

They also had a lady doing freehand calligraphy, where you could write down your name for her and she would draw it out on a card for you to take home.

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Wonderful calligraphy writing at Smythson as part of London Craft Week #lcw2017 #calligraphy #craft @atmorgan

A post shared by Tasha Searls-Punter (@tashasearlspunter) on May 6, 2017 at 6:56am PDT

There were so many great ways to get involved with Craft Week this year, we cant wait to see what they will have on next year as it gets bigger and bigger each year!

Hawthorne & Heaney Internship Opportunity

May 6, 2017 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Hawthorne & Heaney is currently looking for an embroidery intern to join us for an immediate start.

We are looking for a current undergraduate fashion/textiles/costume student to join us in the studio for a 2-3 month internship. Duties will include machine and hand sewing, general administration, maintenance of the social media sites, research, assisting with embroidery preparation for both the staff and for the School and errands. Time is also set aside from duties to develop your own embroidery skills during your internship. Applicants must be hard working, versatile, enthusiastic, professional, responsible and able work well in a small team. Attention to detail is a must along with patience as nothing in embroidery is particularly quick.

Specific Needs

Sewing skills are essential, and a proficiency in both hand and machine sewing would be ideal.
Computer knowledge of both MAC and PC, ideally with an understanding of adobe programs and G drive
Trend aware
Looking to gain experience in a live studio in the embroidery sector
Must be a current undergraduate student of a fashion/textiles related course
Able to travel into London every day

This internship is unpaid and should be taken in addition to a current undergraduate course, we are therefore unable to accept non students for this position. Hours are full time, Monday- friday 9-5pm.

If you would be interested in furthering your studies please fill out the attached form.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Charlotte Stockdale’s Met Gala Outfit

May 2, 2017 by Natasha Searls-Punter

The first Monday in May each year is always a prestigious day in the fashion calender as it marks the opening of the Metropolitan Museum’s new exhibition and therefore the Met Gala. This year, the exhibition is dedicated to Comme des Garcon’s Rei Kawakubo and is entitled ‘The Art of In-Between’. Taking its theme for the Gala from this year’s muse, the attendees dressed to impress in their own interpretations of Avant-Garde.

You may remember a series of silk jackets we did for the Accessories Brand Chaos last year, this year’s Met Gala gave us the opportunity to work with Chaos again as we were embellishing the outfit of Chaos’s Charlotte Stockdale.

They wanted to create a black on black piece so we made the embellishments all about the texture and relief, working with different weights and qualities of thread to provide definition. Some sections were super dense and flat to the fabric whilst others were given height of various levels within the machine embroidery.

Some sections were cut open to provide another texture with fluffy edges which creates a very matte deep black effect against some of the shinier threads.

The whole back piece centers around the Chaos logo which was treated as if it were a traditional heraldic piece. This became the base on which we could build by hand. A variety of beads were applied into the machine embroidery such as bugle beads and cut jet.

As with most of our bespoke pieces, Charlotte’s initials were integrated into the design in the same heraldic style as the mantelling around the logo.

I think you will agree that the final effect is pretty phenomenal when the machine embroidery, hand embroidery, beading and tassels all come together.

For more details about Chaos and the products they offer, check out their website here.

Hawthorne & Heaney Visits Opus Anglicanum at the V&A

December 31, 2016 by Natasha Searls-Punter

For anyone interested by embroidery, Opus Anglicanum at the V&A museum is a must see exhibition. Despite its somewhat inaccessible name, the exhibition is a rare treat to see historical pieces, some of which are almost 1000 years old or on loan from usually closed archives.

The Toledo Cope, 1320-30, England.

The exhibition itself has a very considered, calm feel which seems to suit to nature of the materials on show. It is amazing that these pieces have survived this long, understandably some of the silks have lost the vibrancy of their colour and the metal work has tarnished, but the skill and detail are very evident. In most of the designs, the red colours have survived the best, but in the Toledo Cope the blues are especially pleasing.

The Toledo Cope, 1320-30, England.

The descriptions of the pieces are very detailed, each siteing the types of stitch and techniques used as well as the materials in each piece. There is no doubt of the detail of these pieces is astonishing, even if our modern interpretation of the subject matters can be a little amusing like these very long lions.

Lions on Horse Trapper 1330-40

There are some handy videos that will fill in the gaps in anyone’s knowledge who is not familar with the techniques on display.

Along side the embroidery, there are a few related treat pieces such as this beautiful swan pin which shares influences with the embroidery subjects.

The Dunstable Swan Jewel, c1400

Opus Anglicanum is open to the public at the Victoria and Albert museum now until the 5th Feb 2017.