two crafty dames : deeply fabulous vintage-inspired handmade fashion

Posts Tagged ‘Trish Little’

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

As the two crafty dames are soon to pop over to Tasmania and Melbourne for extended adventures in retail, craft and cuisine (with obliging fiance and sister in tow), I wanted to get together a gaggle of our most fabulous arty friends for a leisurely Saturday luncheon. Imagine my delight, the planets seemed to align and all 7 of us were able to attend! Tina, Trish, Alison, Debbie and Ellenmary joined Carly and I for a lovely afternoon filled with giggles and gossip, fueled with champagne and yummy food.

We chatted about all the usual things, the roaring success of the Food for Thought exhibition, and planning lots of other fun events like establishing a “crafternoon” or studio circle, and working on a pop-up shop concept for Kalgoorlie. (Watch this space)! On hearing about the two crafty dames, the eyes of our party collectively lit up and offered us lots of encouragement to create beauteous retro themed garments and accessories, including a few pre-orders! Prolific artist and all-round fabulous dame Trish Little was particularly incensed and said she had just the thing for us– a swag of fabrics she had been hanging on to and had never quite got round to turning into something new… Who could resist?!

The swatch on the right is actually from a beautifully cut dress waifish Trish wore in the 70′s. With a sharply tapered waist and box pleated a-line skirt, it would be a shame to cut up this beauty… Carly insists it wouldnt fit her but I am not so sure!

We joined Trish for a cup of tea this afternoon and she gave us the grand tour of her lovely 1950s style home and wonderful light-filled studio. A feast for the eyes, with lovely details everywhere you look; artworks collected from friends and her travels, and of course her own artwork, ranging from mixed media framed pieces to gorgeously vibrant and vibrantly gorgeous hand woven floor rugs (I want one – it would go perfectly with the violent orange carpet in my living room). Trish admitted that all of the furniture in the house was bought second hand and lovingly restored – partly from determined thriftiness while simultaneously raising a young family and studying – and partly from not finding any new furniture she liked at reasonable prices. I was particularly taken with the dining table chairs that were repainted fire engine red and re-upholstered (by trish) in a gorgeous brightly patterned fabric. Suddenly my good ol’ Herman chairs from IKEA lost their appeal when compared with these revitalised beauties. (I can feel a home decor project coming on…)

It was a real treat to be invited into Trish’s studio, where she proceeded a show-and-tell of her latest artworks, and the fabrics she was not yet ready to part with! Finally she unveiled the swag of retro florals she had been carefully squirreling away…. some she had regifted from other friends, others were garments from another time, some were suprising finds from poky fabric shops estate sales. All of them fabulous! Thank you Trish, we look forward to revamping our regifted retro fabrics into new creations! x

Clearly Scandinavian, this Anenome flower print was designed in Finland
(no, not a Marimekko design!)