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Here at HotHive Textiles we have been growing our extensive range of products available and we wanted to share some of the best ones with you. So read on to find out more about a selection of the great products and gift ideas added to the website so far in May.
We would love for you to include your opinions in the content of this newsletter, so if you have read a good book you would like to recommend or completed one of the kits and want to share with everyone else how great it was then let us know and we will share your recommendations with everyone else! You can reach us at textiles@thehothive.com or give us a call on 01386 760406. We love to hear from you!
Best wishes Sara
www.hothivetextiles.com
www.thetextiledirectorybookstore.com
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| I Knit India Bag |
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Many of you will have been aware of our Design a Fair Trade Bag Competition, launched last month to celebrate World Fair Trade Day. Artists and designers were invited to submit their designs for the bag and then visitors to our website voted to choose their favourite. You voted in your hundreds and Jo Hodge’s I Knit India (pictured left) emerged as the winning design.
Jo’s bag is now being exclusively produced for HotHive Textiles by pioneering fair trade company, Bishopston Trading, who provide work for tailors and handloom weavers in rural India.
We are having a limited edition of 100 of the bags printed, which are available to buy on our website. The bags are priced at £5 including delivery, and £1 from each sale will be donated to The Fairtrade Foundation to support the wonderful work they do. The bags are expected to arrive from India on 26 June and will be posted to customers after this date. We have already sold over half of the bags, so hurry and pre-order yours now to make sure you don’t miss out!
For more information or to order your bag please click here
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| Queen Square Bracelet Kit |
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Queen Square Bracelet
By Heather Kingsley Heath
£49.50
The Queen Squares bracelet was inspired by the city of Bath in the UK. Courtiers would come to take the waters, parade in their finery and dance at the Assembly Rooms. Additional inspiration came from the portraits of Elizabethan courtiers and their jewel encrusted garments. Filigree gold and precious stones were made into ‘Ouches’ which were stitched onto necklines, sleeves and hems.
This bracelet is made of gently glimmering beaded panels and each square panel has a Swarovski stone nestling at the centre. The panels are linked together with strands of crystals and the bracelet is fastened with a sterling silver magnetic clasp. Make it as a snug bracelet or a bangle. Each kit has materials sufficient to make a 9in (23in) bracelet length.
This kit is designed for more experienced beaders and is available in three colourways: Atlantic wash (turquoise-green), Highland Lichen (khaki-yellow) and Firecracker (orange-red).
For more information or to buy this kit please click here
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| Nouveau Droplet Necklace Kit |
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Nouveau Droplet
By Heather Kingsley Heath
£42.50
The Nouveau Droplet Necklace was inspired by an Enamelled Art Nouveau necklace the designer found in an antiques shop, and by a visit to an exhibition of vintage Ballet costumes. The classic Pendant shape is easy to wear and you’ll find your Nouveau Droplet Necklace will fit in with all sorts of clothes from everyday to glamorous evenings.
This project will teach you how to make a delicate necklace made of Beaded beads, strung together with Swarovski Crystals and seed beads. The design uses three sizes of beaded beads.
This kit is designed for more experienced beaders and is available in three colourways: Atlantic wash (turquoise-green), Highland Lichen (khaki-yellow) and Firecracker (orange-red).
For more information or to buy this kit please click here
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| DIY Embroidery |
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DIY Embroidery
By Victoria MacLeod in partnership with Maggie Smith as Stitch Partners
Published by Roundtuit Publishing
A4
20 pages
£8
We all have lots of left over materials after completing our DIY projects, but what do we do with them? For most of us they go into a drawer or cupboard crammed full with things that we may well need one day, but actually the majority of the items have been sitting at the bottom of the drawer for years gathering dust, until now…
DIY Embroidery, a recently published book by Rounduit Publishing, gives readers a host of ideas and inspiration to create embroideries with the left-overs from DIY projects. There are sections covering the use of bits and pieces such as washers, nuts and tile spacers; “threads” such as cords, cables and tubing; paints, both domestic and specialist; paper and card; stencils and wallpaper. As soon as you start to add other stitches or areas of paint, their origin becomes less obvious and they start to take on a life of their own.
Annette Johnson, our book reviewer, enjoyed this book and told us that it gave her lots of new ideas. She writes, ”Victoria assumes that the reader has a working knowledge of embroidery techniques and does not give step-by-step instructions for projects but introduces the reader to the delights that can be found in unexpected places. It gives the reader useful information about how the things can be used. There are good photographs of samples that have been made in each section, plus a gallery of work that has been made using DIY materials. It would suit people who like to see ideas to gain inspiration.”
For more information or to buy this book please click here.
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| Get Plastered: plaster, print and stitch |
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Get Plastered: plaster, print and stitch
By Maggie Smith in partnership with Victoria MacLeod as Stitch Partners
Published by Roundtuit Publishing
A4
58 Full Colour illustrations
20 pages
£8
"Get Plastered" is a how to book showing a variety of exciting ways to create texture and surface detail on calico with a plaster and paint mixture. Using still life as a theme to work with, the simple techniques and ideas are explained clearly with excellent photographs and step-by-step instructions. There's even a useful section: "Hints, tips and trouble shooting", enabling both beginners and the more experienced embroiderer to achieve some stunning effects with both hand and machine stitching.
This book explores the possibilities of using plaster and paint to create texture, shape, and pattern on simple surfaces and is a fantastic source of inspiration for those of you wanting to introduce something new into your work.
For more information or to buy this book please click here.
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| Knitted Lace of Estonia |
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Knitted Lace of Estonia
By Nancy Bush
Published by Interweave Press, distributed in the UK by Search Press
Edition: Paperback
Size: 216 x 228 mm
Illustrations: 100
Pages: 160
£16.99
With this book knitters will deepen their knowledge of knitting in Estonia, home to some of the oldest knitted artefacts in northern Europe-particularly mittens, gloves, and socks-where the craft has played a major role in customs and traditions for hundreds of years.
You will learn about traditional lace-knitting techniques, including the starburst, twig, peacock, and lily of the valley patterns and their variations; different ways to make the distinctive nupp, or subdued bobble; as well as modern adaptations of the classic ways of constructing shawls and scarves and adding lace edges.
Photographs from several Estonian museums and from the author's own collection of modern knitted shawls are used as source material for patterns and construction techniques. A chapter includes dozens of Estonian lace patterns, with both graphed and written instructions, so they are easily understandable to readers. Instructions for fourteen heirloom-quality projects to knit are included: scarves and shawls in square, rectangular, and triangular shapes; some with added edgings, some without. The text covers instructions for interchanging patterns and designing an Estonian-style shawl, stole or scarf from beginning to end. Tips and techniques used in Estonia are included and augmented with expert advice from the author.
Jenny Lewis, our reviewer thoroughly enjoyed this book. She says, ”Fine yarn and large needles create beautiful flowing projects that can be made by any knitter with some experience. The photography is excellent and the instructions are given in abundance. These are not written, but are given in chart form which many people favour. The more ’difficult’ stitches are shown in diagram form and although a challenge are clearly represented. I can find no faults with this book and being a lace knitter myself, I highly recommend it to anyone wanting something different and challenging.”
For more information or to buy this book please click here
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