making

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.

Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up – Exhibition Visit

September 5, 2018 by Natasha Searls-Punter Leave a Comment

The exhibition Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up is currently at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and we recently took the chance to visit. This unique show gives a detailed overview of Kahlo’s life: her family and heritage; her politics; her relationship with mural painter Diego Rivera; the near-fatal accident that caused her a lifetime of pain; and most importantly, how she constructed her image and the way in which she lived her life.

Upon Kahlo’s death in 1954, her husband Rivera locked up her most valuable possessions in the bathroom of the Casa Azul (The Blue House, their home in Mexico) and instructed that it not be opened until 15 years after her death. In 2004 this bathroom was opened, and the contents of the room went on display at the Casa Azul as a museum dedicated to her life. These objects are what now fill the exhibition space at the V&A, carefully shipped thousands of miles to be shown outside of Mexico for the first time.

The exhibition begins with old photographs of Kahlo and her family, some of which are adorned with Kahlo’s handwritten notes. Some simply label family members, whereas others are more personal: for example, on the back of Kahlo’s Communion photo she has scrawled “¡IDIOTA!” as she renounced Catholicism later in life.

The show continues through a series of rooms to Kahlo’s accessories: heavy jade necklaces; crescent earrings featuring paired birds, which are traditional of Mexican jewellery; and hand-woven ‘Rebozo’ shawls and ‘Morrale’ sack bags. These items highlight Kahlo’s pride in her Mexican heritage.

We then move on to Kahlo’s possessions, perhaps one of the most personal parts of the exhibition. Intimate items are on display such as used lipsticks and empty medicine bottles accompanied by letters to and from her various doctors.

Kahlo’s suffering due to childhood polio and a car accident at the age of 18 lies at the foundation of some of these objects. For most of her life she wore uncomfortable corsets to help support her back and alleviate pain, some of which were made of plaster and decorated with painting as Kahlo used them like a canvas.

Finally, the main feature of the exhibition is a stunning display case of Kahlo’s clothing. Kahlo is renowned for her combinations of indigenous garments from different regions of Mexico, and she was photographed in such outfits many times. To see them up close in real life is breathtaking.

Detailed embroidery is present in most of the outfits, from complexly shaded flowers and birds to cross stitch to traditional Chinese embroidery (due to Kahlo’s fascination with Chinatown when she moved to the USA with Rivera). The exhibition gives details of her most striking outfits, describing how she was followed by children when in the USA, who asked “Where is the circus?”.

There are some of Kahlo’s paintings – mainly self portraits as she used herself as a subject when painting from her bed – but the exhibition mainly focuses on Kahlo’s items and how she presented the complex layers of her identity within her life. It states that her wardrobe was not staged: she dressed up even when she wasn’t expecting visitors, and even when she was in bed rest.

Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up is a bewitching and intimate exhibition. The items on display are fascinating, and through them the personal details of how Kahlo naturally lived an artistic life – despite her misfortunes and pain – are revealed. A must-see for anyone interested in textiles, and anyone interested in Frida Kahlo’s complex and inspiring life.

Purchase tickets at the V&A website here.

Written by Laura Hill

Hawthorne & Heaney and ‘The Tailor of Gloucester’ Waistcoat

November 26, 2015 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Most people will be familiar with the endearing Beatrix Potter story of ‘The Tailor of Gloucester’ but one man is taking his interest further and having his own version of the Mayor’s waistcoat made. Under the meticulous cutting skills of the Henry Poole tailors and with a little help from ourselves on the embroidery, his interest will soon be a reality.

‘One bitter cold day near Christmas-time the tailor began to make a coat- a coat of cherry-coloured corded silk embroidered pansies and roses, and a cream coloured satin waistcoat- trimmed with gauze and green worsted chenille- for the Mayor of Gloucester.’

Much like the mice in the story, we have been busily working away on this project, translating the illustrations from the book into a draft, to be read as embroidery.

Using a combination of silk and chenille, the pieces have been embroidered as per the drafts to create a acurate interpretation of the images in the story. The heavier flower motifs sit around the edge of the pattern, whilst the centre is filled with a trellis like design.

All the details have been taken into consideration, such is the level of commitment to the precision of this piece. For example the buttons which you can see being embroidered below, these unlike the buttonholes, are not described in the story or illustrations so we had to provide a little creative licence on what they might have looked like. They are all lined up so that they can all be worked on simulaniouly to ensure consistency. For each set of buttons, each colour is worked through that part of all the buttons before moving onto the next.

This has been a really exciting and challenging project to work on as it is so well know, and with that comes a big responsibility to do it justice, but we are really pleased with the results so far and can’t wait to see it all made up.

But upon the table- oh joy! the tailor gave a shout- there, where he had left plain cuttings of silk- there lay the most beautifullest coat and embroidered satin waistcoat that ever were worn by a Mayor of Gloucester. There were roses and pansies upon the facings of the coat; and the waistcoat was worked with poppies and cornflowers.

Everything was finished except just one single cherry-coloured button-hole, and where that button-hole was wanting there was pinned a scrap of paper with these words- in little teeny weeny writing- ”No more twist”.’

Hawthorne & Heaney watches Modern Times: Welcome to Mayfair

February 25, 2015 by Natasha Searls-Punter

It’s only every now and then that a programme comes on to television that really gets us excited, but we couldn’t help but be curious to see what the producers at the BBC would make of our little patch of London, Mayfair. On the 15th Feb, Modern Times: Welcome to Mayfair aired on BBC2 showing the social diversity that exists in Mayfair and the variety of businesses and lives it sustains. So it was with baited breath that we watched to see some of our friends and colleagues as they featured in the show as ‘the craftspeople who keep the wealthy in their finery’.

GJ Cleverley’s the Shoe maker made a significant appearance, demonstration that people are still making bespoke items in the heart of Mayfair, in the workshop above the shop, Burlington Arcade. They make all sort of bespoke shoes including these slippers which feature some of our Goldwork embroidery.

There was also an addition from Keith Levett of Henry Poole who does their Livery Tailoring

You might even catch a glimpse of our Director, Claire in the artisan’s meeting if you have a keen eye. For us, it is great to see the focus being given to the independent businesses and championing the craftsman’s trades. It is clear to see from talking to any crafts person that we are all passionate about keeping our craft alive and growing.