Thursday 9 January 2014

A Perfect find!

You know how it is. You discover someone who designs and makes exquisite things and you secretly want to keep them and their work  ALL to yourself? Well, I admit  for a nano-second I was half tempted to do this with 'Little Stitched House' but Catherine, the brains and talent behind this new venture deserves to be shouted about from the rooftops!                


Meet Catherine. (She's the one in the middle!)



I have fallen head over heels in love with Catherine's creations for 'Little Stitched House'  which incidentally was only recently launched on Facebook  just a few weeks before Christmas!


Detail from Noel bunting 





Hand made bespoke Christmas bunting

After stumbling upon her  brand new page on Facebook in November and finding out that she didn’t live a million miles from me, I made a bee-line for her very first ever stall at the Downley Makers’  Market in December in a mission to buy handmade presents  for friends and relatives this Christmas. (And one or two treats for myself as I reckoned I deserved them!)




 Exquisite hand-stitched tree decorations

Her work can only be described as exquisitely designed and expertly made - with love.


Jolly free-standing hand-stitched Christmas trees in metal buckets 


I cunningly devised a plan to rope in hubby with a promise of a constant supply of espressos and danish pastries, to drive the hour or so journey into leafy Buckinghamshire  so that I would arrive promptly and unflustered  as the market opened.

As the doors opened and a huddle of interested customers tumbled in to browse, I knew that Catherine had limited stock and it would all be bought up in a flash, so stood in the doorway and scanned the hall like a hawk, located her stall and like a woman on a mission marched determinedly towards it. 

To say that I was excited is no understatement. I’d followed her Facebook page avidly beforehand, perused and scrutinized her work within a stitch of its life and knew that I had stumbled upon something quite unique.


I have to say here, that there were also some truly fabulous stalls that I visited AFTER my assault on her stall, though failed to photograph them!





My entrance did not go un-noticed and after finally meeting Catherine and buying her work, she remarked that she’d seen my somewhat unusual and determined entry from the back of the hall!

                                          This photo is courtesy of 'Little Stitched House'
 And this bundle of stitched loveliness is turned into …
                                         This photo is courtesy of 'Little Stitched House'
… this!
heirloom hand stitched stocking made with vintage French linens


I did feel rather sorry for those that came later to the Market as I managed to decimate Catherine’s stall and apologised profusely for doing so, but a sale is a sale, isn’t it? Lucky me!!


heirloom hand stitched stocking made with vintage French linens

Her work is so beautifully and lovingly  made and oh so hard to resist. 



All hand-stitched! *swoons*




And a matching girl for the boy!





large handmade patchwork heirloom stocking fully lined 52cm l x 23cm

She simply describes it as ‘Individually handmade heirloom embroideries to treasure forever.’


She cleverly combines beautiful vintage French linens with contrasting and complimenting fabrics.








The finishing of each item is unsurpassed. Trust me – I know a good thing when I see one.


detail of heart stitching 


Take it as read that her beautiful work will be in great demand this year and, if like me you want a unique, bespoke hand-made creation that will be treasured forever, then you’d better get your skates on!

I bought a couple  of these beautiful heirloom Christmas stockings for two very special wee bairns as a pre-Christmas present from 'Father Christmas' and couldn't resist the two matching girl and boy stockings for myself - ever a kid at heart! They look fabulous hanging up!




There are only just so many sewing hours until next Christmas!








reverse of patchwork Elf stocking















reverse of red French linen and patchwork stocking




Beautiful unique tree decorations all hand-stitched and each one unique!












Just love all the wonderful hand-worked embellishments!






Catherine welcomes commissions and can be contacted by sending her a private message on Facebook



I  wish her all the luck and prosperity she richly deserves in the year ahead!


Jules xxx










































7 comments:

  1. Hi Jules, well what can I say. You are an absolute gem. When I've built my empire can you be my personal assistant/marketing director? Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kind words. The time it must have taken to photograph everything and write about it all is very touching. xxx

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    1. Catherine, your work speaks for itself. I just wanted to make sure a few more people saw it.
      Jules x

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  2. Hello Jules, John here - Catherine's husband - I was the one standing on the door at The Christmas Market in Downley. Thank you so much for all your support and the fantastic post you just posted to your own blog …! What a fantastic and generous thing to do! From what Catherine has told me, you guys are building up a strong bond together which - having seen your own beautiful work (as you know we bought a print of "lost for words") - I think is brilliant. Again, thank you for all your support; until I saw the things that you post; I always thought I was Catherine's biggest fan!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you and I hope we can all meet up some time soon, John xxxx

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    1. Hello John and thank you so much for your comment. You must be so proud of your wife's achievements so far! As for the blog post, well I just wanted a wider audience to see Catherine's beautiful work. I know she is going to be very busy this year, sewing away in her little studio in your garden. Hope to meet up at some point! Jules

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  3. A gorgeous post about my very talented Sister. No wonder her stall looked so empty so quickly! Not that I'm surprised as her work is stunning. Luckily the item I had my eye on(a little felt house) was still left at the end so I snapped it up quickly. Thanks for including the link to the Makers Market page as well as Catherine's. We really need lovely people like you who want to buy beautiful hand made work. Catherine told me you were on a mission to buy handmade for Christmas which is such a positive thing. I'm going to have a good look at your blog now. Love the name. Fiona(on the left in the picture!)

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    1. Hello Fiona!
      Thank you so much for popping across to read the blog posts. You do indeed have a talented sister but I bet it runs in the family?
      I do indeed carry the banner for promoting handmade and I'm on a mission. I truly believe we need to get back to crafters and artists and return to decorating our homes with unique pieces of art/craft. It was great fun scouring the various 'handmade' sites and Facebook for Christmas presents. Having said that , I loved everything so much it was VERY hard to let them go!
      I do hope you and your sister go from strength to strength with your businesses and have a prosperous 2014.
      Jules

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    2. Thank you Jules. You too! I've had a good look at your blog and website now. Your work is really beautiful. I loved the picture of the little girl in the snow that you explained the creative process for. I'll be following your blog from now on to see what other lovely things your create. Fiona

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