5 Projects from Blanket Selvedge Strips

Throughout September, four full time crafters and I each worked on a project using six balls of woollen blanket yarn (blanket selvedge strips rescued from the Yorkshire mills). We wanted to generate some fresh ideas for what could be made using this beautiful waste material and encourage people to think outside the box. The Knitting and Stitching Show …

Making a Braid-in Rag Rug: Part 1

If you’re a subscriber to the Ragged Life Inspiration Newsletter then you’ve probably heard me rabbiting on about the September Sustainability Challenge that I’m taking part in in 2023. If you haven’t then you can read a bit more about it here. Long story short, me and four other full-time crafters are each making something …

Q&A with Lucy Rowan – Maker and Weaver

Those of you who follow Ragged Life on Instagram, Facebook or subscribe to our Newsletter may have seen that we are soon starting our September Sustainability Challenge. You can read more about it here, but to briefly summarise, we’ve asked four full time crafters to join us in a friendly competition to each turn six …

Elspeth’s Sustainable September Project Begins…

This September, four very talented full time crafters (@jenerates @cocoonandme @afrayedupcycling and @peasandneedles) and I will take part in a September Sustainability Challenge where we are each making a project of our choice from six balls of blanket edging saved from landfill from the Yorkshire mills. You can read a bit more about the challenge …

September Sustainability Challenge

For the month of September, I have gathered together a talented group of five full-time textile designer / makers for a friendly “Sustainability Challenge”. As part of the challenge, we will all have a month to make something spectacular, but sustainable from six balls of blanket yarn (offcuts from the woollen mills in Yorkshire). I …

My Handmade Wedding Table Plan

In May of this year, I’ll be heading to the lovely town of Lucca in Tuscany, Italy to celebrate getting married to my lovely partner in crime Christian. As a full time crafter, I’m kind of expected to make lots of pretty things for the wedding, but I must admit that up until Christmas, I …

Q&A with Punch Needle Experts – The Modern Crafter

This Autumn 2022, we’ve paired up with punch needle experts “The Modern Crafter” to run a couple of exciting guest workshops at our rag rug studio in Hertfordshire. As a little appetiser to those classes (which you can book onto here if you’re interested), we thought it would be nice to find out a little …

Global Rag Rug Techniques Workshops

In case you happened to miss it, in 2021 I’ve been working on a new rag rug book and boy has it been a journey. Where my first book “Rag Rugs, Pillows and More” covered the traditional shaggy and loopy techniques of traditional British rag rugging, my new book “Rag Rug Techniques for Beginners” takes …

Behind the Scenes at Ragged Life: Off to the Mills!

This past fortnight has sure been a busy one. I think everyone has been snuggled up inside crafting, so online orders have been busy busy busy. As well as sending out your Ragged Life orders, here’s what I’ve been up to… Rag Rug Demo on Hochanda: This past couple of weeks involved a lot of …

Q&A with Textile Artist Rebecca Holley

Towards the end last year, I had the pleasure of talking virtually to textile artist Rebecca Holley about her incredible work. After coming across her artwork on Instagram, I was immediately intrigued by her vibrant rug designs and was keen to find out more about her creative process. So, here it goes… Hi Rebecca Holley! Would …