Hobbies Piecing things together Dawn Kingsford unpicks the passions behind patchwork...


It’s an addiction, it’s an art form, it’s therapeutic, and the secret passion of thousands in Kent.


And for 41-year-old Clare Wilding, piecing together the scraps of an idea has created a business out of a growing interest in patchwork. She says: “Since I was a child I’ve sketched and enjoyed sticking things together, and always dreamed of opening a shop. Patchwork, for me, has pulled together the pieces.”


Dreams of a career in the creative arts


appeared dashed when she failed to get the grades at school in Snodland to get into art college. She entered the world of computing, gaining a GNVQ in business and finance at Mid Kent College in Maidstone. Several clerical jobs and two children later, it was a part-time job at a café in Tenterden that made her realise her ambition to open a shop was still very much alive. She says: “My husband, Simon, has his own business, from which I learned a lot, but I wanted to step out from his shadows and create something for myself. He’s been there, but now I


can look back and say ‘I did this myself’.” She opened her Litle Shop of Fabrics in


Headcorn High Street in March 2017. She jokes: “It was a fishmonger’s, and I had to gut it! “Te days I stood inside the shop praying the smell would go are now happily a distant memory, and two-and-a-half years on, I love it.” The business – which attracts crafters from across the county and beyond – is now complemented by a craſt workshop at her home of 17 years in Smarden, where she offers social sessions and a starting point for those interested in learning the craſt.


Clare agrees many pursue the hobby at home


alone to relax, but most jump at the chance of coming together and sharing ideas. “Our craſt session atracts a dozen or so people every week, who have become great friends.” In August, 41 of them boarded a bus for the Birmingham NEC and the Festival of Quilts, while Clare joined another trip last year to a quilt show in Texas.


Clare said: “No-one goes to a festival without


coming away with ideas and several pieces of material. It’s a funny obsession, material becomes an addiction, with all of us confessing to having a ‘stash’ of favourite fabrics.” With more people taking it up, the craft, which originates in the medieval period, shows no sign of standing still. The picture of the Converse trainers is an example of the latest path being taken by patchwork fans.


Our craft


session attracts a dozen or so people every week


Clare said: “It is a real move away from the traditional quilt, but I like it. Tere is so much work and the detail is incredible.”


Details of the craft sessions and materials are available on line at www.litleshopoffabrics.co.uk or by calling 01622 892008.


A stitch in time…


Dating back to medieval times, some of the earliest examples of patchwork and quilting come from Europe, India and the Far East. It was oſten worn as padding beneath armour and to combat the cold. By the 17th century, the skill was at its most popular, with the wealthy sporting quilted silk doublets and breeches. Some of the finest examples were produced in Canterbury and now form part of the V&A’s collection.


However, the domestic craſt, which involved sewing material over paper templates, is associated more with frugality – a way of using fabric scraps and extending the life of clothing.


Such is the devotion to these items that many have become treasured giſts and family heirlooms. Indeed, patchwork examples were displayed at the Great Exhibition of 1851, including 30 Crimean War quilts made by recuperating troops. Through the years, the skill has been recommended by prison reformers as a reflective therapy and in the 1960s became the fashion of hippies. More recently, it has been used by artists including Tracey Emin.


Te UK’s Quilters’ Guild was formed in 1979 and has 6,000 members, of whom 250 are under the age of 18.


Mid Kent Living 45


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80