I was contacted a few weeks ago by Terry's Fabrics to see if I was interested in taking part in their Designer Insight's Q&A mini interview. As part of the interview I was asked to pick my five top picks for the upcoming season. I always find picking just a few things too difficult - there are too many beautiful things to choose just five.

 My absolute favourite things from the items I chose are, not surprisingly, the weaving! I love Eleanor Pritchard's stunning Cebl Tall Stools that come in either grey/yellow or orange/blue (my favourite) - Eleanor's work is always beautiful. Just as eye catching and stunning is Ptolemy Mann's vibrant work - I picked one of her chromatic round rugs. The other pieces I chose are Sarah Lock's hand turned and hand painted lamp bases, Gilly Langton's ombre dyed necklace and a selection of Cassamance's velvet and silk cushions and trimmings.

I've been a little quiet on the weaving front recently - but last week I was asked to help out with a rather interesting project. I work at Central Saint Martins as a student support for a fantastic 3rd year weaver, Laura Coles. I help out with various different things - setting up the loom, weaving, making warps etc - and Laura asked me to come in and dye some paper yarn for her. Here are some pictures of the process...

I am very excited to announce that my work will be exhibited at the Society of Designer Craftsmen's 25th Designer crafts exhibition at the Mall galleries. My handwoven Oxford bracelet will be exhibited in the 'Shop within the Sale' for purchase and immediate take away. Oxford is woven from a combination of silk, leather, copper, cotton, linen and rayon and is finished with silver plated findings. The exhibition runs from Thursday 8th January until Saturday 17th January at the Mall Galleries just off Trafalgar Square.

It's almost that time again to think about (dare I say it?!) Christmas shopping! I will be showing my range of hand woven bracelets and accessories at gifted14 at the National Centre for Craft and Design on November 29th. The market will showcase a massive range of craft disciplines including textiles, ceramics, glass and metalwork. There is also a local food market, live music and craft workshops and demonstrations throughout the day.

I'm very excited to announce that my work will be taking part in the Craft Emergency 2014 exhibition! The exhibition is being shown as the Aspex gallery in Portsmouth from October 11th - January 4th 2015 and includes  work from fifteen artists and designers working across all disciplines. Click here to see more...

Back in June, Charlotte Ham contacted me to ask whether I was interested in collaborating with her to produce woven textiles for her MA fashion collection - of course I said a big yes! Charlotte's collection is influenced primarily by the Light and Space movement of the 1960s which focuses on perception of a space, light, volume and scale.

Charlotte has used a fairly restrained colour palette of blacks, soft greys and blues combined with punches of yellow and red. The collection makes use of dramatic cuts and clean silhouettes which are cut into to allow the garments and skin underneath to be seen. Charlotte makes fantastic use of wooden panels and strips which are attached to the garments, allowing them to stand away from the body in an almost cage like fashion.

Charlotte wanted to introduce texture and bursts of colour into her collection using woven textiles. I designed a ribbon for her that uses a gorgeous textured, slubby silk in shades of grey and cream which I contrasted with blue leather, yellow cord and nylon cord which is subtly reflective. You can see my ribbon cheekily peeking out from the shoulder of the fabulous coat above!

This red dress is my favourite garment from Charlotte's collection. I just love the gorgeous colour and the 60s ish cut which she has combined with a wood cut out and an interior woven panel which was woven by Cherica Haye.

If you'd like to get in touch with Charlotte, her email is charlotteroseham@yahoo.co.uk. Cherica Haye's website is chericahaye.tumblr.com. The photographer is 

Dorothy pictured next to her very impressive yarn wall!

Whilst working as a school teacher, a friend suggested that she might enjoy weaving. One thing lead to another and Dorothy bought a small loom and set about teaching herself to weave, travelling across the world to study different weaving methods and techniques.

In 1934, she set up her studio, Dorothy Liebes Design, in San Francisco. However, demand for her fabrics was so great that she set up another studio in New York and moved there permanently in 1948.

One of Dorothy's terribly glamorous assistants in the 1940s.

I love her incredibly bold colour combinations - especially her intense bright purple, black and green stripe design (below).

Dorothy was the pioneer for using alternative and unusual materials such as feathers, glass beads, leather, plastic, cellophane and even bamboo, which she used to create highly textured and tactile fabrics for a range of applications. She worked largely in collaboration on large scale architectural projects with designers such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Samuel Marx and Edward Durell. Alongside running her own studio, Dorothy also helped to develop mass weaving techniques and synthetic fibres.

Green woven sample from 1948 - including materials such as cellophane, lurex and glass beads.