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Helena, live-crafting at Liberty |
needlepoint kits and bespoke items, to get ourselves
acquainted with this particular
form of needlework. Today we speak to Helena Ben-Zenou,
founder of POMPOM Design
and we are delighted to have her as a guest blogger later
this month as well.
Helena, you have a background in art (photography, painting) how
did you get involved in making needlework kits and items?
Although I started out as an artist, I have always had a
love of all things design, textiles, interiors, craft and in particular
needlepoint. I started out by designing and making my own needlepoint projects
about 15 years ago, mainly making needlepoint versions of my paintings, which I
would work on in the evenings at home just for my own enjoyment of the
stitching process.
After a while I thought how nice it would be to create some needlepoint
cushions for my sofa, but really struggled to find contemporary designs that I
liked.
I also realised that if I really wanted to stitch
needlepoint projects which were also great as contemporary textile designs, as
well as beautiful, there was a really good chance there were lots of people like
me, and so the idea of POMPOM Design was born…
What made you choose needlepoint over other forms of needlework?
What made you choose needlepoint over other forms of needlework?
I remember being given needlepoint kits (or here in the UK
they are often called tapestry kits) as a child, which I loved stitching. Both my mother and grandmother were keen needlepoint-ers too, so it is
something I have grown up with and has always been a bit special for me.
However, I also love needlepoint because it is extremely
relaxing and enjoyable. Within our often fast-paced, disjointed and throw-away
culture, I love the fact that needlepoint is as much about savouring and
enjoying the process of making as it is as about the finished product. It is
essentially a very simple craft that can be sociable or solitary, and it creates
extremely longlasting and outstandingly beautiful results.
After deciding that I was going to create my own needlepoint
designs I realised quite quickly that if I wanted to create designs for kits
that were really high quality textile designs, I needed the help of an
experienced designer. So I work with textile designer Dan Rambaut to create the
designs. Dan studied textiles at Middlesex University and is freelance textile
designer selling his contemporary designs both nationally and internationally.
I set the briefs and come up with the ideas for the designs. I am very influenced by Modernist design - from the 1920's through to the 1970's, so I try and imbue the designs with a contemporary take on these Modern styles. Dan takes the briefs and builds up the design for me, I then offer 'constructive feedback', and Dan will edit the designs until I am happy. I then tend to tweak the design a bit more as I add the colourways, et voila! a design emerges...
I set the briefs and come up with the ideas for the designs. I am very influenced by Modernist design - from the 1920's through to the 1970's, so I try and imbue the designs with a contemporary take on these Modern styles. Dan takes the briefs and builds up the design for me, I then offer 'constructive feedback', and Dan will edit the designs until I am happy. I then tend to tweak the design a bit more as I add the colourways, et voila! a design emerges...
I will then stitch a prototype of the design, it is
important for me that the design not only looks lovely in terms of pattern,
rhythm, composition and colour, but that is also a joy to stitch. I also want
to make sure the design is accessible and enjoyable for both those completely new
to needlepoint as well as more experienced stitchers.
After the design is stitched, if it ticks all my boxes and
makes the grade it is ready to be made into a kit! Creating each new kit is
quite a long process and a good number never make it past the prototype stage,
so it is really exciting for me when I have a new kit design to introduce…
I love that needlepoint is adaptable, offering both contemplative
and sociable crafting. We design the kits so that you can concentrate on them
totally, think and dream, listen to music, the radio, audio books, or you can
chat away as you stitch. You can dip in and out of your project for a long or
short time. You can stitch on the train, the bus, in the garden or park, on the
sofa, in bed, in your lunch break, in the evenings or during weekends and
holidays. There can be great pleasure in taking time for some quiet relaxation
and personal creativity before the demands of the day take over, and it is a
perfect way to complete a day…And after many hours of enjoyment, creativity and
relaxation you also have a superb quality and uniquely beautiful hand-crafted
item to enjoy and be admired for many years to come…
What can we expect from POMPOM in the future?
We have a lovely new design called Verano (meaning ‘summer’
in Spanish) just coming out that is a blend of Modernist and Navajo / Mexican
patterns, in a fresh and summery colourway of lemon, pale and bright pinks,
white and a soft blue-grey.
This latest kit uses a slightly larger stitch than our other
kits, and creates a much denser stitch called Victorian Cross Stitch. This
stitch is always worked without a frame, making it ultra-portable, and it
creates a luxuriously thick and dense fabric that is also suitable for use as a
rug. So as well as being fabulous for single cushions, multiples of
the kit can also be joined together to create a stunning rug…
We also have some exciting new colourways and designs for
Autumn in progress.
POMPOM Design’s needlepoint kits are
available through the website www.pompomdesign.com,
from the Etsy shop www.pompomkits.etsy.com,
and also through online marketplace www.great.ly
Please share all your fabulous embroidery work in the &Stitches Flickr group. We'd love to see it!
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