bespoke

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 on Frogging

October 18, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Frogging is an interesting word for an embroidery technique isn’t it. It is believed that it referes to the shape of the knot used in ‘frog fasteners’ with the center being the body and the sides being the wide back legs of the frog. The term over the years has come to refer to the embroidery done with this same type of appliqued chord onto garments though not resctricted to the original 3 part knot or for fastening purposes.

At Hawthorne & Heaney, we can produce traditional, hand embroidered frogging, where braid is manipulated and sewn down to create these elaborate patterns that you may recognise from historical garments and costume.

Peacoat with hand embroidered frogging detail by Gieves and Hawkes for Permanent style

Elaborate hand embroidered frogging sleeves before garment construction

We also can produce similar effects using digital embroidery:

Close up machine embroidery frogging on sleeves

Velvet smoking jacket with machine embroidery frogging sleeves for Arjan Blok

Playing cards inspired machine embroidery onto velvet sleeves before construction for Anderson and Sheppard

Playing cards inspired machine embroidery onto velvet fronts before construction for Anderson and Sheppard

Playing cards inspired machine embroidery onto velvet for Anderson and Sheppard

Anderson and Sheppard smoking jacket for the Beaumont Collection (LCW) . As photographed by Guy Hills

It is particulally fun when people want to push the traditional boundries with their order like these frogging inspired sleeves before construction:

Dogtooth sleeves with machine embroidered details for Kathryn Sargent

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 Visits Dior: Designer of Dreams

February 28, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

If your instagram feed is anything like ours then you will not have failed to notice the hugh amount of attention that the Dior: Designer of Dreams exhibition is getting at the V & A Museum at the moment. Following its opening on the 2nd February, the exhibition which is held in the museum’s new Sainsbury wing, it has received an unprescedented amount of visitors.

The exhibition is currently sold out, with tickets being drip released around the 15th of each month and a few kept back each day on a first come first served basis. Members of the V&A however can still visit at their leisure and Hawthorne and Heaney were lucky enough to visit the exhibition on members night in order to bring you our insight.

The London exhibition has a much greater focus on the individual designers of the House of Dior so if you had already seen it at Musee Des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, then this version brings a different angle. Split into a series of sections, this part of the exhibition really gives you a sense of what each creative director has brought to the house. Furthermore it also highlights some of the key aspects of Dior as a fashion house, which holds all the designs together over the years. Identifying these values allows them to keep delivering pieces which are recognisably ‘Dior’.

Each rooms has its own sense of the wow factor with the paper cut flowers room, displaying some of the more romantic pieces amongst the flowers which were dripping from the ceiling. The center piece of which is this gown embellished with hundreds of tiny cut feathers.

We can not cover this exhibition without mentioning the toile room. Probably the simplist room with its ehite cubes, it really brings home the process of producing couture garments and the work that goes into them. It is lovely to look around and recognise some of the dresses you have already seen the final versions of, in their developmental form. As well as taking the time to watch the series of videos they have on display amongst the toiles which show the making process of other Dior producs such as shoes and jewellery from their specialist makers.

Some of the toiles have notes and annotations left on them which highlight the complexity of the pattern cutting when all the other details are stripped away in white.

From an embroiderers perpective, there is plenty to see and appreciate in this exhibition. The variety of styles and techniques is huge so whilst all the pieces may not necessarily be your taste, you can not help but be humbled by the skill.

Goldwork, raffia, feathers and beads all feature in this Galliano piece created for Dior by Lesage.

An interesting use of mesh appliques create the beatle wing/ petal effect amongst the sequins on this gown from the 1950’s.

Where else would you get the chance to get this up close and personal with dresses like this one, worn by Charlize Theron in the ‘J’adore’ adverts?

It is here that you can see that the sequins are tamboured onto the tuelle by hand with their joining stitches adding to the texture of the piece.

Some of the more contemporary pieces provide a different perspective on ‘les petite mains’ (the little hands; referring to the skilled makers that create the designers vision) that we get to see a modern application of traditonal skills such as the use of beads and velvet in this a line evening gown.

Of course, there are also the iconic, historical pieces that you have probably glimpst before, like this gown worn by Princess Margaret for her 21st Birthday photoshoot.

If you find the opportunity, then this exhibition is a absolute must see for fashion, design and embroidery fans everywhere. Follow the link for all the booking details.

All photos courtesy of Natasha Searls-Punter

Dior: Designer of Dreams

The Victoria and Albert Museum, London

On now until 14th July 2019 (extended to the 1st Sept 2019)

Hawthorne & Heaney for Asceno London

February 20, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Embroidered monograms are a lovely touch to add to a luxuirious item and London based sleepwear brand ‘Asceno’ are for sure the experts in this.

For some time now, we have been working with Asceno to add that personal touch to your garments. Here are a few examples of some of the pieces that we have produced

Fancy getting your initials on some beautiful silk pyjamas? Head over to their website to peruse all their lovely items and options that you can have or check out their instagram for sleepwear inspiration.

All Images courtesy of @ascenolondon

Hawthorne & Heaney for Hasan Hejazi

January 11, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

We are delving back into the archives to revisit this really fun project we worked on for designer Hasan Hejazi in 2012. We were asked to create baroque inspired tonal cut work for three bespoke luxury evening dresses for pop goddess Marina from Marina and the diamonds. The project included some exciting names including Tim Bret Day (Photography), Thomas Knights (Film) and a suit for the designer by London tailor Gresham Blake.

Our designs and drawings were based on victorian florid ornament something that is very good to translate to cut work. The initial designs and refining took a long time and the annotations and notes for the embroiderers even longer as there was so much detail involved.

The embroideries were executed in cutwork in colours to match the dresses with a fade to either lighter or darker. There were also a few crystals scattered about to add a bit of light.

The dresses were then put together over four days ready for the photo shoot.

Before the event we hadn’t seen any of the dresses, so we were very excited for the launch. The first we saw was the full length red piece which marina wore for her performance at the beginning of the night.

She then changed into the blue knee length dress which is our personal favourite !

The final pink dress was saved solely for the photo shoot, which you can see in the photos below. It was lovely to get a chance to flex our cutwork drafting muscles this thoroughly, so we are very grateful to Hasan for getting us involved ! A wonderful project all round.

Hawthorne & Heaney does Baby Naming Day Gifts

September 27, 2018 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Welcoming a new child is an import right of passage for many cultures which often involves the giving a receiving of gifts. We often get to work on some of these gifted pieces to add that personalised touch to them for a whole host of different occasions:

The multi coloured one:This baby blanket came with the special request of having the colours in a series of shades of blue, so here is the finished effect in this script font.

The little addition one:

This bib already had the pram design embroidered onto it, so we matched the colour of the monogram to the existing embroidery for that personal touch.

The Sleeping Sack One:

This sleeping sack had another small embroidery in the same position which the customer didn’t like, so we removed the existing embroidery and replaced it with this design instead.

The Baby Bib:Sometimes, the new baby is just too exciting for you to wait for the official name to have been announced, so hedge your bets with a piece like this one.

The Message One:

If the whole name or a date isn’t your style, then what about a personal message like this one which went onto a blanket.

The Commemorative One:

We added the names of the babies which have been christened in them to these gowns along with their christening date, and plenty of room to add the children that will no doubt use these gowns in the future too.

If you have something in mind for the new arrival in your life, get in touch and we can talk through what we can do you for.

Hawthorne & Heaney does Wedding Details

August 16, 2018 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Wedding Napkins; you may think you have seen all there is to see when it comes to wedding napkins. But let us take a moment of your time to show you some of the more unusual napkins we have done.

Super Lux: For a very plush, luxurious finish, these napkins were personalised with individuals initials which we embroidered metallic threads over raisings for added texture.

An Extra Touch:

If you have a theme that you wish to incorporate into your designs, we can create semi bespoke orders using one of the stock font choices with your bespoke artwork addition like the crown in this one.

Vintage feel:

Sometimes the crisp, shiny quality of the machine embroidery threads don’t quite make the perfect fit with what you are trying to achieve with your theme. Take this couple who wanted a more natural feel to their embroidery to match the natural feel of the linen so we used a cotton thread instead which is matte and lends itself well to the hand finished feel.

Bespoke Monograms:

Using the matte cotton threads again for this set which has a gorgeous lace boarder, they picked out an off white for the stitching to keep it neutral, but still clear against the white of the napkin. The wrapping, intimate nature of the letters was very important to this design so special attention has been paid to the ‘unders and overs’ of the letters.

International Reach:

The latin alphabet may not properly reflect the culture of your union, so don’t think that you have to be restricted to your ‘ABCs’ for your embroidery.

Whatever you have in mind, get in touch and we can see what we can create for your special day.