My ground floor studio, attached to the house, just 3 miles from the centre of Winchester, Hampshire is often described as a “makers’ paradise”. I use it principally as a bindery, but it is frequently transformed to become either an embroidery workshop, printing studio or small engineering shed. This allows me to turn my hand to a whole range of crafts.
Bookbinding and paper crafts
The bookbinding equipment includes a guillotine capable of trimming thick book blocks up to A3 size, a professional board chopper as well as nipping, laying and finishing presses. There is also a tub and plough. All the hand tools required for bookbinding are available apart from those for hand tooling. There are facilities for letterpress, lino and other relief printing techniques as well as all the kit and kaboodle for paper-making, including a Hollander Beater.
Stitching and fabric crafts
On the textile side I enjoy creative embroidery, often combining hand and machine work and I have several electric sewing machines, an overlocker and an embellisher. I experiment with a whole range of materials from recycled cloth, paper and leather and use a variety of techniques to add colour and texture to my work.
Laser cutting
The semi-industrial air-cooled laser cutter, with a 600mm by 458mm bed, is housed in a separate room as it is noisy and smelly. It offers studio users fabulous opportunities to use digital design to cut, etch and engrave a whole range of materials as well as the ability to produce unique printing blocks and stencils.
