Casamento

The Coral tree is really embroidery friendly ("embroigenic"?).. and we were recently given a wonderful opportunity to celebrate its beauty on our Lobby chair - commissioned by Babylonstoren Hotel.
Babylonstoren
Fabric is Kirkby "Ice " from the Romo group, a hardy cotton velvet with some great colours. Romo South Africa
We select our hardwood from Rare Woods We only use plantation woods at Casamento , mostly Oak or Walnut.
Rare Woods SA

Finally! We have sourced 100% wool batting from local Cape Town company Brits Non-Woven ♥️. No more polyester , no more plastic. This is a very exciting step forward for furniture makers in Cape Town. I hope they are all inspired!
We're not quite foam free yet, but this is a step in the right direction.
(Schplendid | Heavenly Sofas That Don’t Cost The Earth are where we want to be as far as inners go)

Here you can see what's inside our seat cushion: layers of speciality foam now wrapped in gorgeous thick wool. The foam is strengthened with a silicone, making it last much longer. It also won't break down into a fine toxic dust like standard foam, and lasts up to three times longer.
💪🏻

The captivating Pelargonium - over 280 species in the Western Cape alone - I can never get enough of this incredible plant.

These are joint works between myself and embroidery artisan Xabi Mavi and will be shown at the Among the Trees exhibition in La Motte's L'Atelier gallery in Franschhoek

Exhibition opens on Saturday the 4th July
La Motte Wine

African trees have become a genre on their own here in our hand embroidery studio. These bedroom cushions were made for a recent lodge project with interior designers Reflecting Africa, featuring 6 different trees.
Trees featured in this post are
Ebony
Leadwood
Bushveld Saffron
Knobthorn
Reflecting Africa Interior Design

I'm working on a daybed and ottoman set for the upcoming exhibition at La Motte's Ateljee: "Among the Trees". Using my favourite handwoven wool from Coral Stephens as a base cloth, and some of the yarn recently purchased at the Australian Tapestry Workshop. That one colour has really brought my Arum Lilies to life!

The exhibition opens on the 4th of July and runs until October.
I'll also be hosting my first embroidery workshop at the Ateljee in October - but more about that in another post.

La Motte Wine Coral Stephens Handweaving Australian Tapestry Workshop

A textile lover's dream workshop! On a recent trip to Melbourne I had the pleasure of attending a tour of the Australian Tapestry Workshop. Workshop guide Phil will talk you through the process of how they weave artist tapestries. The one shown is a mesmerising work called "Salt Creep with Fence no.2" by Australian artist Philip Hunter. The size, the detail, and the moody colours!! They also manage to embroider on top of the weave, a kind of lattice for the fence.
If you're into fine Australian wool of every colour imaginable the workshop also has a little shop where you can buy.
Australian Tapestry Workshop

I don't think I posted these yet.. custom headboards for one of projects last year.
Referencing some of our past work, we collaborated with Joan to create these unique headboards that feature no Fynbos plants for a change.
Three dimensional embroidered moths and an abstract kelp design.

The happy craziness of the pincushion flower.. in all its glory. Embroidery artisan Vuyiseka Phanzi is given creative license to make each flower head unique, taking the interpretation of this common Fynbos plant to another level.

Fabric is Soho linen from Kirkby, Col Kingfisher

This chair is a showroom piece, and available to purchase. Please email or DM.

Daybed (or ottoman?) with hand embroidered Field of Grasses
Inspired by my project "The Field", I used Camira's Main Line Flax as my base fabric, a blend of flax and wool... my two favourite natural fibers, and hand embroidered my favourite family of Fynbos, the Restios. The embroidery runs along all four sides.