It was a happy accident that I came to work with felt. I was studying arts therapy and my path crossed with a felt maker. I participated in a workshop here or there, to make a shawl, a pair of slippers, a skirt to wear. As a kid I had wool allergies and an aversion to wool but what attracted me to felt making was that you didn’t need much skill or expensive equipment to make a small piece and I found comfort in making and wearing these felt items.

Like most felt makers I started with layers of wool making basic scarves and wraps. With simple equipment like bubble wrap and a pool noodle anyone can do the same. Looking back on those early pieces I see how naïve they were; heavy and coarse.

Over the past ten years I’ve researched, developed and practised my technique of marrying the wool and silk together. My wedded fabrics describe a finish where the wool and silk are virtually homogenized and visually inseparable. These wedded fabrics combine to form their own unique merino-silk material. My floating fabrics describe a finish where some of the sari silk, or China silk, is allowed to gather or ruche and seemingly float over the underlying material giving it a completely different appearance.

I’m particular about working only the best quality superfine merino wool or merino and silk rovings, and fine silk pieces. I marry these materials to create a refined and luxurious finish with an inherent loveliness that speaks for itself and a touch that leaves you feeling good all over.

For those of us with extreme sensitivities my wedded fabrics allow you to enjoy the full warmth and colour of the finished piece while wearing the fabric side against the skin.

My garments are an extension of self.

I work only with vibrant colours and textures that are uplifting, because colours affect us both psychologically and physiologically.

With a background of Art History I work at producing surfaces that mirror the painterliness of Impressionist painting using a minimum amount of superfine wool and silk rovings on a silk carrier. My more layered, complex and vibrant surfaces reflect the colour fields found in a Rothko, which I achieve by incorporating additional recycled Sari Silk or silk viscose velvets for complexity and contradiction.

Whether painterly or layered, my goal is to create colourful fabric, which is expansive and uplifting for me to work and for those who wear it. The finished garment is rich in its development and appearance while maintaining the lightness, softness and elegance that superfine wool and silk offer.

I don’t distress the wool and silk products with harsh industrial processes like a sander, dryer or washing machine that some felt makers use. While this requires many more hours of manual work for each garment it means they are genuine handmade articles.
The joy of working with quality materials and the love of making my pieces are integral to the process and allow me to form a relationship with my materials. I believe that those who wear my garments will also inherit this feel good relationship.

Thank you for reading about my Merino-Silk Apparel, the touch of luxury you deserve and will want to wear every day