Meet: Helen of Petal Textiles
How long have you been designing textiles and how did it all begin?
Since I was little, I always loved drawing, designing and making things. I remember drawing lots of bat winged jumpers in the 80’s. I then went on to specialise in Textiles at college and then did a degree in Decorative Arts at
What processes & techniques do you use in your work?
I predominately use handmade felt, needle felting, hand and machine embroidery and often combine these techniques together. But I love experimenting with other techniques such printing, knitting and stitch and burn.
What are you inspired by?
Most of my inspiration comes from nature, a lot of my work uses floral designs. Recently I have been inspired by pebbles after spending an afternoon on a pebble beach. I also like exploring colour and texture and sometimes the materials I am using are the inspiration.
Do you have a work space or studio? What is it like?
I work from home and have taken over the dinning room, unfortunately it is still used as a dinning room occasionally, so I have to tidy everything away now and again. There is a large table, which is great as I get to spread out, I am a very messy worker so I tend to fill all the space I can. This room is is also full of our large book collection.
Where can people buy your work?
I have a shop on Folksy and will be selling through a couple of other online galleries / shops soon.
I also have work in Get Made, which is the Nottingham Craft Mafia Shop on
How do you promote your work?
I have a blog, I also use Facebook and Twitter. But to be honest I do need promote my work more.
What goals do you have for the future?
I still work full time, ultimately I would like be able to able to spend more time on Petal Textiles, as this would mean I would have time to promote my work more and explore and develop ideas, but I think that’s a very long time away. I think short term I want to get my work in more places, I want to keep developing, as I feel I have come a long way in 18 months, I need to promote my work work more and I want to do more craft fairs as I think this can be a great way to promote yourself. But most of all I want to keep enjoying myself.
What advice would you offer to someone thinking about turning their craft/art into a business?
Promote your work as much as you can, its a really competitive market with loads of very talented sellers, so it can be hard to get your work seen. Don’t get down hearted if you don’t get sales, I know I have had to work very hard to get every single sale. Grow some thick skin, you will get people who don’t like your work. Try and do something a bit different. But most of all keep enjoying what you do.
A few of your favourites (just for fun)….
Colour: Red
Animal: Badger
Season: Autumn
Person: My Fella
Food: Cheese
Website: ooh that’s hard, I do like a good craft blog with lots of images.
Thank you Helen! I love your work and your workspace looks amazing with all of those colourful books.
Check out Helen’s shop for her latest creations, and hop over to her blog to read about what she is currently working on.
That is all gorgeous work!
Another lovely interview! I've seen some of Petal Textiles' items on Craft Juice, so it's nice to find out a bit more about the brains behind the operation!
Great interview, I really dig that purple cushion can really see the pebble influence on it. Looks fab!