To celebrate the launch of our new website, our ‘Giveaway’ social media promotion offered one lucky person the chance to win 4m of fabric and printing here at The Silk Bureau Ltd.
One of the best things about running a competition is when you get to announce the winner. So, imagine how thrilled we were when the winner of the ‘Giveaway’ competition turned out to be not only a regular customer, but also celebrating her birthday the day she was notified! Celebrations all round!
The winner of our ‘Giveaway’ promotion was Hannah Weedon, a textile designer and illustrator.
Hannah creates commissioned designs and also freelances for a design studio. For her winning 4m of free printing she chose to present a selection of new ditsy pattern florals.
Following these designs through the processing system was a joy, which we would love to share with you.
So, this collection that I'm printing will be sent off to a design studio that I freelance for called Amanda Kelly. I've been working with them since September 2020 and when I have a spare moment in between client work I really enjoy just designing something completely self-led for them. This particular print run was inspired by all the various lovely ditsy designs I've been seeing about in the trends. I tried to find transitional colours that would work for both summer, and going into autumn.
As we follow Hannah’s choice of 100% Silk Light Twill from print to despatch, we really wanted to know more about Hannah and her work, so we simply had to interview her:
QWhat got you started as a textile surface pattern designer?
I consider myself quite lucky in that I've always known I wanted to work in the creative industry. This led me to studying Textile Design down in Cornwall at Falmouth University. I knew immediately that I wanted to specialise in Print Design as I always loved to paint and really enjoy the process and transition from paper to fabric. 10 years later, and my love for surface pattern design hasn't faded!
QAs a regular customer here at The Silk Bureau we love seeing your new designs. Where does your inspiration come from for each fresh new design?
I'm always looking for inspiration in everyday life. I'm constantly sifting through my phone to see what I've taken photos of throughout the week. These will usually just be things that I've loved the design of, or colourway of, etc. The catwalk and fashion trends definitely influence my designs also. I want to make sure my prints are current and try to put my own spin on what is trending!
QHave you ever spotted one of your designs on a stranger or in a publication?
Yes! It's a pretty satisfying feeling and it always seems to happen when you least expect it! The most random spot I've had was on holiday in the Philippines. I was staying in a small town called Coron, walking down the local high street and spotted my design in a shop window! Very surreal moment!
QNow that the country is ‘opening up’ to shows and exhibitions again, will we be able to see your work on display?
My work is definitely a lot more commercial, so for me I would say I concentrate on making sure my designs are more appropriate for the high street as opposed to an exhibition! I love the idea of people wearing my prints and that's what I work towards!
QWhat creative aspirations have you got for the future and what plans are there for Hannah Weedon Design?
I'm always striving to find new and exciting clients to work with. I already have some loyal and fun existing clients who I love working with and hope to continue to do so also. My favourite thing is the challenge of working to a brief and having that one-to-one contact with a customer, so I think client work suits me best. I haven't even been freelance for a year yet, so I feel as though I'm still finding my stride and adjusting to juggling projects and planning my time. The last 6 months especially have been a real learning curve, but I hope to continue to grow in confidence as a designer and business owner.
Thank you to everyone who took part in our promotion. What a worthy winner, we hope you agree.
We wish Hannah all the very best for her future career and look forward to seeing her next set of beautiful prints.
Follow Hannah on Instagram to see her designs as they’re created. @han.wee.design
© The Silk Bureau Limited 2024
The processes involved in digital textile printing causes the original fabric to shrink. If you are printing scarves, the size of the finished product will be important to you. For example, if you have square artwork, you will be expecting your finished scarf to be square!
To get the printed fabric closer to the size you need, all fabric intended for scarves must go through an extra step to reshape it. Please allow extra time on your deadlines to allow for this process.
Let us introduce you to the …
The stenter is an enormous piece of machinery that has many uses, including coating our fabrics and reshaping scarf orders.
After travelling through a solution to soften the fabric, it then passes over a flat bed, gripped on the selvedge edges to pull it back into shape.
It’s a long and precise process that needs to be carefully monitored.
If you have selected to use our hemming service, we will check the stentered fabric for you before we begin to finish your scarves. If you are not using our service, it’s up to you to check the size BEFORE you cut out the individual scarves from the fabric length. We cannot re-size after your scarves have been cut out.
