Embroidered Lampshade Commission – Cheeky Cracker!

May 12, 2021February 11, 2025 Julie Gardner2 Comments

Last week I finished working on a rather special embroidered lampshade commission for a lady in Wimbledon. The brief was to make two large drums for her daughter’s bedrooms using ticking fabric that matched the roman blinds. They could be slightly different but with the same theme – Cracker the much adored family pet – a cheeky black working cocker spaniel. The design was to be a story along the bottom of the lampshade, with Cracker walking through flowers on one side and more flowers, a watering can, bone, ball and toppled over (I wonder who by!) plant pot opposite.

The design developed as we emailed backwards and forwards and spoke over the phone – I worked on sketches from photos of Cracker and we decided on the story we wanted the lampshades to tell. All part of the creative process which I love. Even down to the colour of her collar (orange) and her little name tag with a letter C on it.

Most of the stitching is in a dark grey but I also added some black to draw Cracker’s fur, and some white on the darker flowers to make them stand out. I added a mustard yellow French knot on each of the daisy flowers.

They were finished off with a beautiful simple plain straight braid from JA Milton in a gorgeous green on the top and bottom rings. We thought it looked a bit like Cracker was walking on grass and it contrasts really well with the other colours in the stitching and appliqued fabric.

See for yourself on the many photos below, from the initial design drawing to the finished pieces of art in situ. I hope the little girls love and treasure them as much as I enjoyed making them! One of the girls is apparently angling for anther puppy, spot the sign behind one of the lampshades 🙂

If you would like to commission your very own piece of art on a lampshade do get in touch, I’d love to hear from you!

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Tricia Guild at the London Fashion & Textile Museum

March 9, 2020February 11, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

A couple of weeks ago I visited the lovely Fashion and Textile Museum in South East London with a friend. What a treat for the senses! It was well worth a trip even though my mind was begging me to stay home and snuggle up on the sofa in the warm.

Bermondsey is a hip and vibrant area, buzzing with bars, cafes, restaurants and shops. A place where young Londoners hang out in wine bars after work and where tourists wander and admire the architecture with the Shard looming above. I just love places like this and am thankful that I live so close by; it’s just a short train ride away from rural Berkshire.

It’s worth going just for a meander through the streets, popping into the art galleries and delis along the way. We couldn’t resist the traditional British grocery store, The Giddy Grocer for some sourdough bread and tasty veggie hummus, but there’s plenty to choose from. There’s an amazing glass blowing studio (London Glassblowing) where you can gawp in awe at the skill of the artists when they’re working. Oh, and there’s even a small independent cinema showing arthouse films (Kino) too, love it.

If you can drag yourself away from the wonderful streets of Bermondsey you’ll find the equally inspiring Fashion and Textile Museum, tucked away in a pretty little side street, just a short walk from London Bridge tube station. I visited back in May 2017 to see an exhibition on the textile designer Josef Frank (see my blog post here).

This time around, we were lucky enough to see a talk by Tricia Guild OBE, followed by a walk around the displays of her textiles in room sets, adorned with ceramics and furniture from her own personal collection. The exhibition took us on a journey from her original block printed wallpapers and fabrics (inspired by a trip to India), through to the painterly effects and digital prints in her latest collections. I loved that despite all her amazing success in the industry she talked about making a home somewhere you feel happy to walk into at the end of the day.

Tricia Guild is a true inspiration to women today, with her passion for pattern and her entrepreneurial spirit. She is still heavily involved with the Designers Guild business and design studio even at the age of 73; a sign that she really love what she does. Don’t miss the captivating video of Tricia talking if you have time, with the backdrop of her amazing house and gardens in Tuscany, a live canvas for her collections.

Tricia has written nineteen books, the latest called ‘Out of the Blue’ available from Amazon here. And Designers Guild have recently launched 156 paint colours, click here for details.

The Designers Guild exhibition, ‘Out of the Blue – Fifty Years of Designers Guild’ is running until June so still lots of time for a visit. I highly recommend it!

And there are lots of interesting creative workshops at the museum too, from pattern cutting to fabric painting to hand embroidery with the Royal School of Needlework. Now I wish I lived around the corner so I could go every week…

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Mary Quant at the V&A

February 3, 2020February 12, 2025 Julie Gardner1 Comment

gilhoolie is definitely getting out lots this month which is great for the soul! I think now my kids are older and more independent I’m realising I have a lot more freedom to go into London for inspiration; it’s only 30 minutes away after all and there’s so much to see and do on my doorstep, it just takes a bit more effort and planning.

I can’t say I know much about fashion designers from the 60s, or fashion designers full stop really but I’m definitely interested in textiles and clothes so I thought the Mary Quant exhibition at the V&A was worth a trip. (Thanks for the recommendation Sam!) It makes a change from all those hours I’ve spent with two small boys in car, tank and aeroplane museums (anyone with boys will empathise).

The ticket said to allow an hour but we were so absorbed in the display that nearly 2 hours passed in a flash. We wandered around looking at the many beautifully dressed mannequins in original outfits (sometimes with a photo of the owner) and black and white photos and films telling the story of Mary Quant. From her beginnings opening a small boutique ‘Bazaar’ on the Kings Road in Chelsea in 1955, to mass production all over the world. I loved the V&A curation of the display and the way it described the story of the Mary Quant brand. It must’ve been so exciting to be a young woman in the 60s, empowered by this new bold fashion.

I also didn’t realise Mary Quant had a line in makeup – below is a cartoon strip that was published to help girls see what they should be buying to add to their makeup collection and keep up with trends. Love this!

This dress ‘Alice’ was bought at the Chicago department store Marshall Field in 1971. It is made out of co-ordinated fine wool prints from Liberty and retailed for around £20 (about £150 today). I really like the cut, the sleeves and the length of this one. There were so many dresses I could see myself wearing today and ‘Alice’ is one of them.

Below are some of the shots I took on our visit. The exhibition finishes in a couple of weeks, so hurry if you want to take a look. You can read more ‘gilhoolie gets out’ blog posts here or subscribe to the blog by clicking the follow button on the right. Thanks for reading!

Love the red A line dress and the stripes too

gilhoolie gets out

Top Drawer 2020 – Art

January 22, 2020February 12, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

As promised last week, below are some of the artists that stood out for me at Top Drawer 2020. I obviously love drawing flowers and buildings myself so I was very drawn to these particular prints. You can take a look at the artists yourself, by following the links below. Enjoy!

From left to right:

30×40, Annie Dornan Smith, Catherine Ann Lewis, Laura Stoddart, Sam Wilson (lovely homewares too), Soodle Street

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Top Drawer 2020 – Homewares

January 17, 2020February 12, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

Top Drawer 2020 at Olympia London this week was a feast for the senses; with over 1500 global brands and new designers. From homewares to gifts to fashion, craft and food, there was something for everyone. I came away with a notebook full of scribbles and a pile of postcards and business cards from my favourite stalls. I’ve decided to break it down into individual blog posts as I have so much to share! I love all things to do with interiors so let’s start with homewares.

Below are just a few of the homewares designers that caught my eye. You can see lots more on my Pinterest account. I’ll be sharing my favourites in ceramics, art and jewellery soon.

Links to all the designers pictured are below. Header image from Top Drawer.

From left to right:

Artisanne – love these Alibaba linen baskets, Bloomingville Interiors – I have followed them on Instagram for a while now, always beautifully shot images of lovely homewares, Thornback & Peel – the home of beautiful screen-printed tea towels!, Liga – got to love a cork placemat, Rediscovered By – reminded me of my drawings but with more patience!, Shepherd of Sweden – sumptuous sheepskin products and this gorgeous wool poufe, The Braided Rug Company – definitely going to buy one of their oval rugs for our house, Wonki Ware – amazing handmade dinnerware and Atlantic Blankets – I need one to curl up under!

gilhoolie gets out

Handmade Chelsea 2019

November 12, 2019April 25, 2025 Julie Gardner

Last weekend I took time out to visit Handmade Chelsea with a friend. Great excuse to get into London on a rainy Saturday afternoon, and the perfect opportunity to take a mooch in the shops on the King’s Road afterwards. Time was limited but we managed to stop off at The Conran Shop, Anthropologie, Designers Guild and Silvera, before driving away from the big smoke and back home to rural Maidenhead.

I’m hoping to visit an exhibition, art gallery or museum monthly from now on, so look out for more posts under the ‘gilhoolie gets out’ blog category!

Here are my favourite finds from Handmade Chelsea 2019. Enjoy! (You can also see these on my Pinterest page, along with lots of other lovely finds in the world of interiors, art, lampshades and anything else that takes my fancy).

Links to artist websites are below.

From left to right:

Jaejun Lee Ceramics, Purely Porcelain, Helen Chatterton Textiles, Carolyn Tripp Ceramics (blues), Wytske Lazenby Silverware, Katie Putt Illustration, Byron & Gomez Furniture (Patria Cabinet), Byron & Gomez Furniture (Fold Floor Lamp), Carolyn Tripp Ceramics (greens).

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Lampshade for a London exhibition…

March 4, 2016February 16, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

I was contacted last year by a lady who was interested in having a lampshade made from images of record sleeves. I must admit I was a little confused about the concept at first but it all made sense after a bit of a chat. It was to be displayed at an exhibition in London on sound system culture (which I knew nothing about, hence the confusion!)

The Sound System Culture website says:

Sound System Culture is a compact, informative and carefully curated exhibition tucked away in a corner of west London arts venue The Tabernacle. Using photographs, archives and memorabilia, as well as highly detailed narratives, it traces the history and growth of sound system culture in London, from private parties in the 1950s to the modern day Notting Hill Carnival. The travelling exhibition began in Huddersfield, journeying to Bristol and Birmingham before hitting London this month.

Born out of a need for ‘community focus’, these systems acted as vehicles for the excluded Caribbean people to be heard in London. This was achieved through decades of dedication towards sound and communication – these systems were, and still are, the stars, taking precedence over the musicians that play on the decks. These gargantuan speaker set-ups provided the people with music from their homeland in the way that it was meant to be heard.

The exhibition is not just a two-dimensional experience; you can have a go at cueing up a record and feel the sound coming out of the speakers, which must be pretty impressive judging by this amazing photo from the Sound System Culture website:

Mandy from Sound System Culture wanted to display images of the original record sleeves in an interesting way and we agreed that a drum lampshade would look great.

It wasn’t just about making the lampshade for this one though – my first challenge was to fit all the scanned images into one long strip in Photoshop and then get it printed at my local printers. Next I made the long print-out into a drum lampshade and trimmed the top and bottom with white bias binding to neaten.

I really enjoyed making this lampshade for Sound System Culture and hope it looked great displayed on one of their sound systems in the exhibition. You can follow them on Facebook and Twitter (@Stringupdisound).

This photo is from ‘The Cultural Expose’ website:

Here it is in my house, where it looked lovely even if it didn’t quite fit in with my decor: