It was a pleasure to be part of a fashion show for the private view at Fresh Air Sculpture this June. Along with key pieces from my current work, I debuted two new dresses that used my new local wool yarn from Fernhill Farm. It was great fun and wonderful to be featured amongst so many other talented local designers in the stunning setting of the Old Rectory, Quenington.

The Bronte dress (above) was designed to showcase the natural tones and airy softness of my single flock yarn, this one-off dress was knitted on my manual knitting machine, with a hand stitched edging in a dark grey British wool yarn.

After being assembled and washed it's dipped as a whole piece (not at all scary, honest!) into the indigo vat to create the subtle ombre fade.

The Bermagui dress (above), a one of a kind panelled piece inspired by the textures and tones of rock formations found during my travels along the Australian sapphire coast earlier in the year. I really challenged myself with the construction of this conceptual piece and I’m really pleased with the way it turned out.

It's dyed with various exhaust baths - these are the liquids left over from other natural dye projects that I keep to save on water and dyestuffs. As well as helping towards my zero waste manufacturing goal, the dyeing resulted in a more muted colour palette that fit my theme perfectly.

Natural dyes used in this dress include: avocado stones that my friends give to me, weld leftover from my MA collection and cherry bark found in my mum's garden.

This dress is available to purchase - POA - please email me if you would like more information.

The show had a really fun feel - I love how the model styled the outfit above with her chunky boots! The rust colourway of the Grace Skirt really goes well with the Beton Petite.

I was slightly caught off guard at the end as I was thrust onto the catwalk for the finale - luckily I was wearing one of my own jumpers and had a smile on my face! The Beton jumper has become a firm wardrobe favourite for me and I would happily make more if you’d like some jazzy naturally dyed sleeves in your life.

Fabulous photos from the show courtesy of Oliver Blackwell Photography.

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