two crafty dames : deeply fabulous vintage-inspired handmade fashion

Trish & Paula pose prettily on the magic carpet

It was with great delight that the Dames accepted another gracious invitation to afternoon tea with the fabulous artist Trish Little! You might remember from our last visit to Trish’s studio, my gushing about her beautiful decoration of her home with lovingly restored furniture, quirky and artistic objects, especially the various hand hooked rag rugs scattered about the house. And so our merry party did herald a special occasion: the unveiling of a custom-made hand-hooked rag rug especially for MOI!

It was love at first sight, and the love only burned brighter as Trish described the various recycled “rags” that had gone into its creation, a treasured length of fabric that was meant to be made into a skirt (or was it a jacket?), a print designed by an Aboriginal artist with a decidedly “Ken Done” colour scheme, and the green accent fabric meticulously dyed by hand to just the right colour to finish the zig-zag border of the rug. The artist masterfully wrestled with this 1.3 x 1.9m beauty, hooking lengths of fabric through a hessian base in arduous 85+ hour long process. Delicious texture underfoot, and jewelled colours glinting in a gorgeous harlequin pattern, this truly is a “magic carpet” which i will treasure forever…

…and as suspected, it looks completely wonderful against my 70′s “violent orange” loungeroom floor!

As if our delicious afternoon tea and the unveiling of the magic carpet was not enough, Trish very generously gifted to us some more of her vintage textile treasures. Dear readers, it is a great surprise we did not hyperventilate with all the gasping we did as Trish unveiled (with great bombast) one deeply fabulous garment after another. Stay tuned for a studio tour of Trish’s artistic abode and a photo story of the gorgeous garments!

If you would love a hand-hooked rug of your very own, Trish has several stowed away carefully, waiting for a loving home to go to. Email us if you would like us to put you in touch with the artist!

You can find out more about Trish’s artworks and the history of her hand-hooked rugs with this fantastic article and interview by Rebecca McLaren on the ABC Goldfields website.

Detail of the luscious fabric rags used in the carpet

How spoiled are we?! Homemade brownies and fresh mulberries from the garden for tea… Is it just me or are we suddenly characters in an Enid Blyton book?

Heavenly scented roses from Trish’s garden decorate the table