About Us
WHO WE ARE...
Vanessa started her business on her kitchen table over 20 years ago. For the first few months she worked after her four children were tucked up and before they came down in the morning, cutting all the samples with her pinking shears and rolling out the first orders on a table tennis table!
After some very favourable coverage in Country Living magazine and the Saturday Telegraph followed by a Country Living Fair, business took off and Vanessa has never looked back. She has swiftly become one of the most exciting names to follow when you need to buy designer fabric.
She has a wonderfully loyal team:
Hayley is Manager of the team and 'go to' for all queries.
Tammy manages both the website and The Bothy. She also supports other departments as needed and assists with the planning of photo shoots and brochure production.
Sam not only manages enquiries and showroom visits, but also keeps track of all of our returnable samples, showroom products, and stock supplies.
Tania is our Design Consultant. She oversees the showroom and runs virtual, showroom, and home design consultations.
Izzy & Jenny expertly quality check, and thoroughly inspect, cut and package your fabric orders in Dispatch.
Tracey looks after our accounts, making sure everything is straight.
Kelly manages digital marketing, ensuring Vanessa's profile in the public eye is current and on trend.
Laura helps Vanessa to create the screens for printing.
Peter and Will undertake all of our furniture deliveries safely and professionally, whilst our trusted drivers from Parcelforce and Royal Mail arrive daily to collect all your parcels in any weather, and with unwavering good cheer.
Our fantastic photo shoot team - stylists, photographers, decorators, drivers...Vanessa couldn't do it without them!
WHAT WE DO
Vanessa initially trained as a nurse and a teacher before marrying Nicholas, an architect, and having four children. Together they converted a cow byre in the Cotswolds. Since they couldn't afford curtains, Vanessa had to create her own fabrics. She found screen printing and block printing liberating and enriching and to my surprise, friends started using the designs in their own homes. Her enthusiasm for designing fabric burns stronger than ever and she just hopes that people continue to humour and fund her passion!
Vanessa says, "The Cotswold countryside is the setting for my life and it hugely influences the look of my fabrics. The developing fashion in interior design is towards simple patterns which reflect a basic and rustic way of living and I have been very fortunate that this mirrors my life and, thus, my designs."
Our Collections include: Forest, Botanical, Orchard, Velvet, Artists', Artisan, Birds & Beasts, Bohemian, Hand Printed, Meadow, Sky, Wildflower, Scandinavian, Swedish, Plain Linen Unions, Earth, Woodland and Cockerel. The collections complement each other by sharing colours and include useful co-ordinates such as checks, stripes, spots, and floral prints.
Gentle colours are the signature which include teal, pigeon, spinach, buttercup, limestone, reindeer, clay, damson, duck egg, stone, raspberry, mushroom, cornflower, cool, straw and lettuce, and many more.
Vanessa has really enjoyed working with a small family run mill in Solva, Wales, to produce some beautiful rugs and stair runners made from 100% British wool…they are the last mill in Wales to weave rugs!
We offer a range of quality sofas, chairs, headboards and footstools made in the UK to order. These are expertly covered in any of our fabrics; please see our Furniture page for more information.
WHY WE DO IT
We only buy certified organic cotton which is combined with eco-friendly flax, to create our unique linen union which I use for all our fabrics - printed and plains.
This is because non-organic cotton is the world’s dirtiest crop to grow, because it relies on the heavy use of pesticides which are hazardous to human and animal health. Pesticide use has serious adverse effects on biodiversity and contaminates local water supplies.
Over time the pests build up resistance, so the farmers have to increase the amount of pesticide they buy to grow the same quantities of cotton. The high cost of these pesticides frequently puts the farmers into debt; in April 2009 in Chhattisgarh, a central Indian state, this caused 1,500 farmers to commit suicide.
The World Health Organisation reports three million pesticide poisonings per year in developing countries, where almost all cotton is produced. Symptoms of acute pesticide poisoning include vomiting, skin rashes, headaches, tremors, respiratory problems, muscle cramps, blurred vision, and lack of coordination, seizures and death. By buying organic cotton you increase demand and help more farmers to be taken out of the debt cycle and have a better quality of life.
In our offices we are trying hard to do all we can to reduce our impact on the environment: our heat comes from an air-to-air source heat pumps and our sample room and warehouse are highly insulated using sheep’s wool.
We use recycled paper and biodegradable cardboard. All our waste card and paper is shredded and used as bedding for our ducks and chickens, which in turn makes compost for the vegetable patch!
