Emmie… our new addition to the Ragged Life team

Ragged Life mostly consists of me (Elspeth), my mum, Victoria (the original rag rugger who gets dragged into my hair-brained plans) and a small group of talented rag ruggers who help me out when the commissions come through thick and fast. With such a small team, it’s extremely exciting when we get to welcome a …

Visit the Harrogate Knitting & Stitching Show 2017

THE HARROGATE KNITTING & STITCHING SHOW 2017: I may feel like I’ve only just recovered from the Alexandra Palace Knitting and Stitching Show last month (which you can see my highlights from here), but the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show has crept up on me and is just around the corner… wow, wherever did the …

Our New Ragged Life Rag Rug Spring Tool

After over a year of development, our Ragged Life Rag Rug Spring Tool is finally here and this is what it looks like in all its glory: In this blog post we thought we would share with a little about the tool, the story behind it and why we’re so darn pleased that we’ve finally …

Highlights from the Knitting and Stitching Show 2017

From Wednesday to Sunday last week (11th-15th October, 2017), I was sharing the Ragged Life love at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace. Over the course of the week, I ran workshops for rag rug beginners and did demos from my Ragged Life stand in the Great Hall. I never get as much …

Visit us at the Alexandra Palace Knitting & Stitching Show 2017

The Knitting & Stitching Show 2017: Oh my golly gosh! Wherever has the time gone? It feels like only yesterday that I was booking a stand to display my Ragged Life wares at the Alexandra Palace Knitting & Stitching Show 2017 and now it’s only a couple of weeks away (11th-15th October)… eek! This is …

The Settlement Rag Rug Wall Hanging

The Settlement Rag Rug Wall Hanging: I’ve been working with The Settlement in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire for a while now. They’re an excellent adult education centre running courses in every skill and craft under the sun. Seriously… languages, fitness, arts & crafts… they do it all. Their headquarters is this characterful Art & Crafts …

Tea and Crafting, Covent Garden

A bit about Tea & Crafting: Tea and Crafting in Camden is the first place that I ever ran a rag rug workshop in London. As you can imagine, it therefore holds a special place in my heart 🙂 So, I was absolutely horrified when I heard that the Camden workshop space had been affected …

My Mum’s Latest Beautiful Rag Rug

You may have seen a sneak peek of this beautiful rag rug over on the Ragged Life Instagram or Facebook page, but finally you get to see it in all its gloriously quirky glory. Below is the story of how this Sicilian Rag Rug came about (as told by my mum, Victoria) and plenty of …

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2017

This weekend, I took the opportunity to visit the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition 2017. It is one of my absolute favourite art exhibitions of the year and has become something I look forward to every summer. This particular exhibition is one of the largest open submission exhibitions in the world and, as such, is jam-packed with …

A Social History of Rag Rugging

A Social History of Rag Rugging: In my line of work, I’ve spoken to thousands of people about the history of rag rugging, and what has really struck me from all these encounters is the feelings that the craft evokes. Some of us remember relatives making rag rugs, others were forced to cut up the fabric against their …