Tracy Evans Textiles: Move over Nigella.....the new domestic goddess has...

Tracy Evans Textiles: Move over Nigella.....the new domestic goddess has...: Well firstly a massive belated Happy New Year, is it really the 16th January already? I have a sneaky feeling this year is going to whizz b...

Move over Nigella.....the new domestic goddess has arrived!

Well firstly a massive belated Happy New Year, is it really the 16th January already?  I have a sneaky feeling this year is going to whizz by at the same rate of knots as last year or maybe it's just a fact of life when you're as old as I am!

Christmas seems such a long time ago now, it would be forgotten if it wasn't for those extra pounds which have attached themselves to my waist.....again!  And how is a girl supposed to shift them when people buy me lovely festive gifts like my new Jamie Oliver cookbook......another to add to my now 6 piece collection.   So this year my New Years Resolution was not to diet and get fit (although this is definitely what I need it to be), which undoubtedly would have been broken within 5 days but to START actually using my recipe books instead of having them gather dust on my shelves.  I have made it my mission to try out at least one new recipe each week and so far I have been really good at keeping to my word.  Week One was roasted apple and squash soup made with the last of my butter nut squash crop from the garden and stock made from the Christmas turkey bones.....yummy!  Week Two we had jerk dressed Bristol pork, which would have worked really well had I paid more attention to the number of fresh chillies I used, breathing in was good, breathing out proved more of a problem!  This week I made Cornish pasties.....I can't believe that in my 46 years on this earth I have never made a pasty before, quite bizarre.  Anyway, I was so impressed with my prowess I had to photograph them for all to see, they tasted pretty good too.

Before

After

Well I didn't stop there.........my domestic goddess alter ego just kept on going at the weekend and I found myself donning my pinny once again and beavering away in the kitchen all Saturday morning making marmalade!  12 jars of Seville orange........done! Am I not a 1950s home maker reincarnate?!

Well maybe I'm not doing anything life changing here but it makes me feel like a wholesome earth mother and I LOVE IT!  Besides, it's a distraction from what I should really been doing.......business stuff.  Talking of which, my winter sale is now in full swing and there are some bargains to be had on the sale page of my website.   I've also posted some new products for interiors, you can now buy one off framed weave samples and artwork like these below so take a peak and 'like' the page if you have a Facebook account so that your friends can see it too.

'Inca' - framed one off hand woven sample

Close up of 'Peony' original artwork

Making Space Christmas Fair

Tomorrow I'm off to set up my pitch at the Making Space Christmas Fair.  Come along and grab yourself some quality hand crafted gifts for your loved ones.  Open Saturday 3 December 11am til 4pm and Sunday 4 December 12pm til 4pm.

Another photoshoot by the water!

First of all may I say a massive thank you to everyone who dropped into my Open House last Saturday, we had a steady stream of visitors all day and made some great sales as well as enjoying catching up with everyone and indulging in a little mulled wine.  Massive thanks again to you all.

This is definitely the silly season and I've been non stop with shows.  I returned from MADE at the Brighton Corn Exchange last week, exhausted having worked 16 hour days but very content with how it all went, met some fabulous people, both customers and makers and it was lovely to catch up with a few of my previous customers from last year's show.  The feedback for my scarves was fabulous, everyone seemed so happy with their purchases and I'm so pleased that my products have become really treasured items for them.  Despite the fact that times are a little hard at the moment, my sales were good and it is always a pleasure to talk and inform people about my design ethic and making.  I hope that I will have the opportunity to return next year to this amazing show.  I even treated myself to a little something, A SCARF would you believe!  Take a moment to look the following links of my fellow exhibitors, you are all brilliant and it was a real pleasure to meet you all and hope that our paths cross in the future.

Sarah Warsop Jewellery
Claire Armitage Textiles (I've got one, lucky me!!!)
Corinne Carr Knitwear

Following a very busy few days I decided to take a couple of hours out to clear my head.  I've been out and about with my camera again and been snapping away at all the lovely things that inspire me and my work and am quite pleased with the results......again, so wanted to share them with you.  Check out the link here to my Flickr account to see the full set of pictures.

Tracy Evans Textiles: New gift ideas

Tracy Evans Textiles: New gift ideas: Over the past few weeks I've been keeping myself busy making new products from my hand woven fabrics, and a selection is now available in t...

New gift ideas

Over the past few weeks I've been keeping myself busy making new products from my hand woven fabrics, and a selection is now available in the gifts section of my website shop.  If you're looking for inspiration for Christmas why not take a peek, there's a variety of gift ideas with a good range of prices to suit every pocket.  Finally, after months of searching for the right product I've managed to make some cuff links by combining acrylic resin and my fabrics.  The cuff links have a sterling silver plated stem and feature a tiny piece of hand woven fabric suspended in the resin.  

They are both decorative and durable, which is really important as your cuffs get lots of use during the day, especially if you work at a desk.  Each pair is presented in a little gift box and make a lovely gift for men and women, especially with this season's androgynous fashion trend on the catwalks.  It's definitely all about the tailoring and these little gems can easily bring a bit of sparkle and colour to a simple white shirt.  They have the appearance of glass without the weight so you won't feel like you've been doing a work out at the gym all day!

Next are my little notebooks with hand woven covers. I've been making and selling these for a few months now and generally only put them out at shows as they go quickly. The covers are made of fine lambs wool and cotton and woven in a classic stripe combination, the colour ways change dependent on my mood so I rarely weave the same colour story twice. Being a typical Gemini, I get bored easily so like to keep it fresh. The notebooks are standard A6 books which can be bought in any good stationers, such as Staples or Smiths so, when you've finished the book you can just slip the cover off the old one and pop it onto the new one. This gift just goes on and on until you get bored with the colour, then you can always pop back to my shop and buy another!

Lastly are my hot water bottles, a classic hot water bottle sitting in a lovely hand woven cover which is lined in fleece and fastened around the neck with a little ribbon.  I must admit, I really like these and am tempted to keep one for myself but I've only made four and they were time consuming.  Not only was the fabric quite a complicated structure and, it was almost a metre wide, took me ages to thread up on the loom, it also required me to use all 16 of the shafts on my loom, something I haven't done for ages, so my right leg was definitely getting a good work out during the weaving.  Just to add insult to injury it shrunk up to almost half it's width after washing so, needless to say, I was getting a little frustrated by the end of it, but I think the effort was worth it.  They are really soft and I can image snuggling up with one on a cold winter's night and feeling very warm and toasty.

All of these products and more are available on my website while stocks last and I am continuing to offer free postage and packing on all purchases (UK only).  If you like what you see but I don't have it in your colour, I am happy to take commissions but please give me as much notice as possible if you need it by Christmas.

Tracy Evans Textiles: Beautiful Bosham

Tracy Evans Textiles: Beautiful Bosham: I've been out and about with my camera getting to grips with learning how to use it properly and am quite impressed with my shots of the wa...