About Fruitbat Textiles
Handwoven in British Wool | Crafted in Somerset
A Love of Textiles That Started with a Singer Sewing Machine
I've loved textiles for as long as I can remember. At five years old, I was learning to cross stitch. At 14 I sadly lost my grandmother - a wonderfully creative woman who embarked on many creative projects, and who encouraged me to make things with my hands. When she passed away, I inherited her Singer sewing machines and sewing baskets filled with threads, zips, fabrics as well is projects she had once started.
It felt like a message: Keep going.
From that point on, I stitched everything by hand, taught myself garment construction, and followed that love into college and then to the University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, where I studied Textiles for Fashion and Interiors. I arrived believing I would be a printer... and then never left the weave department.
Weaving became home.
A Business Built on Slow Craft & British Wool
I launched Fruitbat Textiles soon after graduating, shaped both by my training in weave and my experience working as a milliner's assistant. Accessories felt like a natural language - functional art pieces that hold meaning, memory and often, warmth.
From the beginning, I was drawn to natural fibres, especially wool. And the more I learned about the environmental impact of the wider textiles industry, the more committed I became to working as responsibly as possible.
British wool became the obvious choice - abundant, traceable, renewable, and deeply connected to our landscape.
Today, every piece is:
- Hand-dyed in small batches
- Warp painted or flat dyed using techniques developed in my studio.
- Handwoven on traditional hand looms
- Finished by hand, one tassel at a time
- Made with minimal waste, with offcuts transformed into jewellery, pom-pom pieces and textile art
Every scarf, shawl, cowl or meter of cloth begins its life as plain yarn in my rural Somerset studio.
My Philosophy: Craftsmanship That Lasts
Fruitbat Textiles is built on three principles:
- Craftsmanship matters
Skilled, traditional making techniques deserve to be protected, celebrated and carried into the future. My work honours that slower rhythm - the kind where hands, not machines, determine the character of each piece.
2. Sustainability must be practical and honest
Natural fibre. Thoughtful Dyeing. Using every last scrap.
Packaging designed to protect your textiles for life - not just look pretty for a moment.
This is an ongoing journey, and I'm always looking for ways to tread more lightly on the landscapes that inspire my work.
3. Textiles should be lived with and loved for decades
I create heirloom-quality pieces intended to become part of your story - the scarf pulled on for morning walks, the shawl worn for years of celebrations, the cowl that becomes your winter companion.
Good design doesn't shout. It stays.
Why I Do This Work
Alongside my love for making, I'm driven by something even more personal: setting an example for my twin daughters.
I want them to grow up knowing that creativity is valuable, craftsmanship is powerful, and that you can build a life doing what you love - slowly, carefully, wholeheartedly.
Today: Weaving for You, for Heritage, and for the Future
Now in my tenth year of Fruitbat Textiles, I continue to weave every collection myself in my Somerset studio. My work is stocked in heritage sites, galleries and curated boutiques across the UK, and I regularly demonstrate weaving at events such as London Craft Week.
Whether you discover Fruitbat Textiles through a scarf, a cowl, a length of plaid fabric, or a small remnant reimagined into jewellery, my hope is always the same:
That you feel the care stitched and woven into every inch.
Thank you for choosing slow craft.
It makes a difference - to makers, to communities, to the land that grows our wool.
