I am a creative mixed-media textile artist with a passion for working with cloth & thread, doodling with inks, journalling and eco-dyeing.
I design and create using the cloth as my foundation, leaving the threads to tell the tale...
Each piece I create is filled with a symphony of delights relating to a link to our past, perhaps a way of showcasing a moment in time, or it can simply be a collage of forgotten treasures and everyday found objects.
I love to concentrate on textures, layering of fabrics, adding some surface stitching, embellishing with a little ephmera, drawing and shading with embroidery silks using a variety of traditional sewing skills and adding in a few mixed media techniques for good measure.
Slow stitching particularly makes my little 'ol Fen heart sing... taking time out to 'simply be' with any design is so therapeutic and calms my meandering creative soul.
I am surrounded by inspiration every day and regularly add all the lovely pockets of joy I find in my Daydream Journals.
Each one eventually turns into a complete novel heirloom by itself...
I also love capturing the every day beauty of the ordinary snippets of life through my photography, poetry and doodling which have a huge influence on my textile work.
Mother Earth is also always on hand, waiting in the wings, to offer me some daily gossip and gentle delights for a design.... colour combinations, patterns, textures and shapes; they all help to add a rich depth of flavour to my work.
I am especially inspired by the wild beauty of the Cambridgeshire Fens; the flora and fauna, the rich tapestry of the Fenland heritage and the woven threads of belonging to such an ancient landscape.
I also adore different forms of language; beautiful sayings, phrases, poetry and old 'lost words'. These are added into my many stitched collages.
My real passion is in treasuring those vintage beauties such as old linens, faded embroideries, vintage fabrics and treasured found objects.
For me they all hold a story to our forgotten past.
I love being able to breathe new life into something old and pre-loved and watching it turn into something gorgeously beautiful again....
My heart always wanders towards the tattered unloved boxes of linen left under a table in a charity shop or at the end of a stall at an Antique Fair, wondering what the story is behind each piece and thinking of ways to add them in my designs to capture their own social stories.
In addition to my design work, I teach a variety of craft workshops at events around the UK and in my own studio, showcasing many of the traditional skills of sewing, patchwork and slow stitching alongside various techniques in textile art, journalling, eco-dyeing and mixed media.
I have recently returned from India where I hosted another Textile Tour with Aahilya Holidays in Kolkata which I absolutely adored!!!
My next tour to Gujarat is in Nov 2026 where we will be exploring India's rich culture and ancient history of textiles through embroidery, block printing and craft workshops...
My first book 'Stitched Memories' with Search Press, launched in July 2018 and very quickly sold out in the UK, becoming one of their top ten publications in 2018 and 2019. It has been reprinted three times and continues to be one of their best sellers...
My second book Daydream Journals launched in Feb 2022 which again soon became another best seller.
To date I have sold over 35,000 copies of my publications which is incredible to believe really and I am incredibly blown away by the continued support of loyal readers.
2024 saw me launch two more books -
Among The Wildflowers - A love of Cloth & Thread series
Connecting with Nature
2026
Woodland Walks - A Love of Cloth & Thread series
Currently I am working on my sixth book...
Thanks for reading all the way to the end!
Gentle Blessings from me to you....
Tilly x
