Bespoke Sewing.......................exquisite hand-finished keepsake gifts and home furnishings
Is the creation of the lovely talented Imogen from Burntwood. The wife of a Farmer and Mother of 2 boys and a little girl.
Imogen creates a range of designs a range of designs, which feature the most stunning and unique hand embroidery techniques. She makes a number of different textile designs, and her designs have evolved recently.
Imogen is incredibly talented and is here to tell us a little more about how
Imogen Allen Designs began:
How did Imogen Allen Designs begin?
My family circumstances had changed and I had moved counties
as well, so going back to sewing initially started as a hobby. I began making
different keepsakes for friends and family and so decided to establish Imogen
Allen Designs and began to promote my designs.
The main inspiration behind using the personalised
embroidery was that when I was small, I could never find anything with the name
Imogen on it! When I was young it was a very unusual name although it has
become popular in recent times. With this thought in mind and knowing that a
lot of children these days have unusual names, or they are spelt differently, I
felt the need to bring something to customers so that they could have names
they wanted on my products. However, to bring it in the form of a keepsake was
really important. I wanted to create something that can be gifted, personalised
and treasured forever. My first delve into this resulted into hanging hearts
for Christmas trees. They were a little smaller than the current hearts but the
idea was to create something that could be brought out each year and used again
and again. That design just grew from there over the last couple of years.
A Selection of Imogens beautiful makes
Talk us through a typical day in the life of Imogen Allen
I possibly don’t have a typical day! The good and the bad
about working from home is that two days are never the same. However, three
mornings a week are dedicated time for business and I slot my working time in
some afternoon and mainly evenings, depending on what the rest of the family
are up to! I shall be working more in the daytime in a year or so as my
youngest child will start school.
What keeps you inspired every day?
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Lots of things inspire me. My friends, my family, beautiful
pieces of craft and artwork that I see, stories I read about others and their
lives, hopes and struggles. My passion of 1970s patterns is one of my real
loves! When I see retro patterns and designs, that really is the thing that
makes me
go oooh and ahhh! I love the boldness and brightness of the retro
patterns of the 1970s and the colours are so invigorating! I grew up as a child
in the 1970s and I remember our house being full of bright colours, orange on
the walls up the stairs, green in a another room, big swirly patterned wallpaper
and fabulous crockery! One or two particular patterns stick in my mind.
Particularly the Arabesque design on Denby crockery. We had the set at home and
I recently required my own set much to the amusement of my mum who remembers it
as quite a grotesque pattern and a fabulous coffee pot that looked good but
never kept the coffee hot! Other patterns such as the Meakin Inca design
created by Jessie Tate and used in the JG Meakin range in 1970 which features
the fabulous mandale style that I am also very drawn to. This certainly
influenced my drawing Floral Luna. I love to recreate the feel of those
patterns and that shows particularly in my Retro Therapy artwork. This piece
was a step away from my sewing as I really wanted to bring to life the colours
and patterns that really appeal to me. It is such a niche market and would love
to be able to broaden the appeal of my designs to others who are like minded!
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| Denby Arabesque |
Imogens love for patterns is evident in this
Flora Luna she created earlier this year.
Surprisingly, her school Art Teacher told her she had no talent!!
I think we can officially disagree, don't you?
Due to personal problems, Imogen took a couple of months off work, and whilst she was absent, she created this:
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| Retro Therapy Thankfully Imogen has been back for a few months now, sharing her new and amazing designs with us. imogenallendesigns.co.uk |
Where do see your future and Imogen Allen Designs heading?
I would love my business to grow to be more self supporting
financially and for my textile and embroidery work to be easily recognisable as
mine! I also hope to develop my artwork side and continue to challenge myself
using different techniques and trying new things in design.
Do you have an inspirational word of advice for small
businesses starting out?
I think my tip would be to be
prepared to work hard, connect with others and share information and support
each other. Make sure you do your research and always try to learn as much as
you can on your journey. There are so many areas where you can get help and
support to run a business. The more you put in the more you get out and
finally….make sure you always treat others as you wish to be treated!
Now some fun:
What is your favourite colour?
Oh has to be turquoise and grey!
If you had to choose, which would you pick?
Fabric/Buttons/Ribbons
Fabric, fabric, fabric!!
Finally, tell us a joke?
Oh I am so rubbish at jokes but here’s one….”What do you
call a man with mud on his head?” “Peat” lol
I had the pleasure of meeting Imogen last year, read here
Imogen currently has a 'Giveaway' running on her Facebook Page, Click here to enter Facebook Giveaway
Thank you so much Imogen for taking the time to share your world with us, it was lovely and inspirational!
To find out more about the beautiful work Imogen does, follow her on Facebook, Twitter and imogenallendesigns.co.uk
And this is me, maker of all things to treasure, from Keepsake items, to Soft Furnishings
Thank you for reading
Happy Stitching
Michelle xx
