Over the Christmas holiday period, different members of the team are contributing personal blog posts. Today, Selvedge’s customer services manager, Hester Thorp, tells us about the origin of her love of textiles: One of the unique parts of my role at Selvedge is that I often hear about your particular textile interests and inspirations. Christmas is so often a time of reflection, maybe more so in this most peculiar of years, and so I thought I would share mine with you…

My mum was a teacher of sociology turned textiles whose workroom at home was barely even a room, just an enclave off the dining room. I don’t even think it was more than about 6m square, a tiny treasure-cave stacked high. A hangover from the late 70’s meant some particularly attractive orange open-weave curtains hung across the glass doors separating this small piece of heaven from the mundanity of the rest of the house and imbibing it with a warm glow. With a big L-shaped desk, her chair, and boxes stacked everywhere, there was hardly any room in there… just a tiny space under the wall shelves, tucked behind her chair, that I could fit into, cross-legged on the floor.

I don’t remember learning to crochet, to embroider or sew. These skills, like they are for so many of us, were just absorbed… yarny goodness seeping into our souls. I‘m not sure I even knew what my mother was doing most of the time, just the feeling of sitting in that place of warmth and safety, playing with bits of fabric or yarn. Whilst above me the radio was always on (and in my head always playing Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy). So, this festive period, I like to think of you all in your own cocoons of yarny goodness, as I will be in mine, audio-book playing, but without an orange curtain in sight!

Wishing you a warm and wonderful holiday,

Hester