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Emily & Nicola: Textile Design
British master textile designer Nicola Cliffe and fellow Emily Criddle
Nicola Cliffe is the creative founder of Madder Cutch and Co whose mission is to produce beautifully designed fabric using natural plant dyes and pigments, a counter to the careless use of synthetic dyes worldwide. A former chemistry teacher, Nicola embarked on her career change in 2014 and today she works from her studio in Lincolnshire where she creates her designs that often feature the flowers that grow in her garden every summer.
Emily Criddle is a Devon-based textile designer with experience in natural dyeing and printing for fashion and interiors. She is interested in finding new sustainable methods of making, to create materials that have low impact on the environment and on human health.
Madder moderne
Master textile designer Nicola and fellow Emily created a textile collection of screen-printed linen for furnishing fabrics. The collection is printed using natural dyes such as onion skins and madder root, and Indigo dye extract for the repeat design. Inspired by artists and textile designers of the 1920s and 30s, their collection is a nod to the industrial connotations associated with the Art Deco period. Methodical repeating pattern is contrasted with flowing lines and the floral depictions. The duo celebrate natural dyeing, which diminished with the emergence of synthetic colour and mass production, by showing the vibrancy of colours achieved with this more sustainable artisanal process.
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