New Designer: Sundance Studio

New Designer: Sundance Studio

We are beyond excited to welcome Sundance Studio to our curated product selection.
Emma Shepherd makes each piece by hand, slowly, on the Mornington Peninsula, and hence every piece is imbued with connection and care.

Emma honours the ancient craft of weaving, the structures passed down through generations, and the tactility of natural materials that have been used for hundreds of years. 

We have selected and customised our selection for the store to fit seamlessly with our aesthetic and the cushions pair perfectly with our linen and the totes match seamlessly with our current clothing collections. 

We asked Emma a few questions to celebrate the launch in store.

 

What path led you to begin Sundance Studio?
"I finished my degree in Textile Design at RMIT in 2018, with a specialisation in weave, and fell in love with the tactility and rhythmic process of weaving. I wasn't sure of exactly what Sundance Studio would look like when I started in the beginning of 2020, it has evolved organically, and I continue to be curious about new pieces to make and which direction to go in."
Explain a little about the making process, where you source the yarn and the time it takes etc?
"A very grounding part of weaving is the time it takes ~ although this poses challenges in how expensive it may make a humble cushion, it means that the piece is imbued with connection and care. Each thread passes through my hand multiple times, the process of dressing a loom takes hours, and is laborious, but after this the weaving can begin. It can take a few days to finish weaving a warp, after this the cloth is washed, cut and sewn by me in my farm studio. I source yarn from all over the world ~ although I would love to source more locally I haven't been able to, most of the local yarn is more suited to knitting, and is mostly wool, whereas I work with a lot of linen and silk. My linen comes from a mill in Lithuania, one of the oldest in Europe, my silk from India, and wool from the UK and America. "
What are some of your sources of inspiration?
"I have some really beautiful books, some were gifted to me by my Great Aunt who started the Australian Tapestry Workshop, others I have collected over time. I find a lot of the colours I use are reflected in the bush around me, I love hiking and this informs a lot of the textures and patterns I am drawn to. If I get stuck, I often go through my boxes of yarn and bring together little palettes, the materials themselves are very inspiring."
 
What is your favourite thing to make?
"I have really enjoyed making my latest series of coasters - although not a very exciting product, they were so fun to experiment with different colours and patterns, and work together in a cohesive collection. They also require minimal sewing, and have been surprisingly popular. "