Another speaker at the recent Benchmark Design ‘Toolbox Talks’ that I attended was London-based textile designer Eleanor Pritchard, who spoke about her fabric designs and production processes.
She talked us through her designs and inspirations, with many of her patterns based on found patterns and repeat patterns in the built environment.
Her accessories, cushions and rugs ranges came first. These beautiful rugs and cushions are woven on traditional looms, and the resulting fabrics are actually comprised of two layers of fabric. It’s the pattern of the fabric that holds these two layers together, which also means that they’re reversible. The yarns are fleece-dyed, which gives a natural variation to the colour of the yarn, and so a wonderful depth to the finished textiles too.
More recently she’s launched a range of contract upholstery fabrics, woven for her by Bute Fabrics – a company whose products we already use and have written about here. These use yarn-dyed threads, so instead the depth comes from a combination of different yarn colours used together during the weaving process. The result is the overall pattern of the fabric is visible from a distance, and then up close the small pattern made by the different yarn colours is revealed.
They’re stunning collections, woven by different producers for her, but all finished in her studio in London. They have a mid-century aesthetic which is very sympathetic to contemporary interior design trends, and I’m sure we’ll be using some of her products in our interior design schemes very soon.
