Welcome to Frances Felt - Textiles Studio!
I thought I would write a little bit about my journey to this latest version of Frances Felt, one I am very excited about. As with a lot of sewers, I came to it naturally, through my mother. She was always sewing me clothes, sewing curtains for the house and quilting just about everything. Home Economics in high school taught me the fundamentals of sewing, skills I still rely on today. My mother bought me my fist sewing machine for my 21st birthday (Pfaff Hobbymatic 919...still sew with it today!!) and I would sew clothes for my university friends and for family Christmas presents (pretty sure my dad still wears all the fleece I was sewing back then!!)
But it was just a hobby. I dropped out of Uni after 3 years and went travelling to "find myself". It was through these travels that I found the intoxicating world of textiles. India, Nepal, Guatemala, Mexico, Japan all have rich textile traditions that are incorporated into the people's everyday lives. These are all slow crafts that take years to master and are passed down through the generations (less and less these days!). I was enthralled! I would buy pieces of fabric from everywhere I went. The colours and textures and intricacies were too beautiful to pass up. I came home to British Columbia and started taking textile classes almost immediately. I learnt to felt wool, weave and dye; with plants and with chemicals. I learnt colour theory and art history and design principles and cool crazy techniques that blew my mind. I loved surface design and the relationship between the maker and the process. Don't overthink it...trust the process! I sold a piece of fabric to the Governor General, Adrienne Clarkson. She had a dress made and threw a party. It was in the papers!!
3 different art school later and a BFA in hand I moved back to Vancouver determined to make a living with my textile art.
Frances Felt was born in 2003. I joined the up and coming local clothing designer scene of the '00s. I made a line of clothing, all incorporating elements of my hand crafted fabrics. Felt flowers, rusty bike chains and tin cans, screen printing and flowy ruffles were mainstays in my collections.
And felting...lots of felting!
I ended up leaving Vancouver for a small town, nearby, in the mountains. The love of my life lived there and we made a life for ourselves closer to nature. Soon life became much more domestic and Frances Felt slowed down dramatically. I was sewing cloth diapers and cute tiny sundresses!
Juggling self-employment AND parenting never came easy to me. I guess I wanted it all; the career maven and the domestic goddess. The years soon past and the projects came and went.
Anise & Dill (my daughter's name is Anise and my son is Dylan) was born from a project with my daughter. We started making re-usable snack bags and produce bags. She soon lost interest...but I got such a great reaction from the public that I decided to jump in and make a go of it.
Well, then the Covid pandemic hit and me and my trusty Pfaff started making masks for the community. Things ramped up and within a few short days I had another business. I sold my masks across Canada for 2 years. It was a whirlwind!
Throughout it all, I kept coming back to textile design and it really has been at the heart of everything I do, from indigo tea towels and napkins to scarves and pillows, clothing and yes, even to my pandemic masks.
I have now shifted to what I feel is my true calling...artisanal fabrics for the sewing community! I am connecting my sewing roots with my passion for unique, interesting, one-of-a-kind fabrics. I never felt truly comfortable calling myself a fashion design, nor an artist. But I AM a sewer and I AM a textile designer and where those 2 interconnect is where Frances Felt belongs.
I look forward to sharing my fabrics with you and I really look forward to the many collaborations I'll get to do with the sewing community.
Frances
xo