#CROSS STITCH GRAPH OF LONDON BUS TV#
ETSY are also really active in supporting their sellers: from online seminars and courses, seller communities and events, and most recently a UK TV ad! As makers, it is a great way to reach a national and international audience and to be part of a huge community of people designing and making a diverse and exciting range of items. We really love being part of the ETSY community.
Increasingly though she is finding that needlepoint and needle-based crafts are moving to the forefront of her art practice. Helena has been an artist for (ahem) twenty years and continues with her studio practice albeit in a more limited way. Somewhere amongst it all is our little company POMPOM Kits!ĭo you have personal art practices as well as designing for the kits? We think it is really exciting! There are so many different approaches and ideas out there that there is something in the spectrum for everyone: from the subversive, political and radical, to the traditional, twee and nostalgic. What do you make of the current world of needlecraft? However we develop all our designs with the stitcher in mind and every kit is carefully considered to keep stitchers challenged and engaged in the experience of making. We are aiming to bridge the space between design, needlepoint and interiors. We are also influenced by the Slow Movement and the resurgence of interest in creativity and making. We take our inspiration from Modernist design, graphics and architecture and a contemporary take on textile traditions. In 2011 Dan partnered with Helena as Designer for POMPOM Kits.Īll our kits are designed to share our passion for surface pattern, interiors and the hand-crafted. I also realised that if I wanted to stitch kits like this, there was a really good chance there were lots of people like me.”ĭan studied textiles at Middlesex University becoming freelance textile designer selling his contemporary designs both nationally and internationally and also running his own textile-based printing business. “However I realised that I really wanted to stitch needlepoint projects which were also great as contemporary textile designs: beautiful, highest quality, enjoyable to make, and that would just look great on my sofa.
She started out by designing and making her own needlepoint projects about 15 years ago, mainly making needlepoint versions of her paintings.
POMPOM Kits was started in 2011 by artist Helena Ben-Zenou and textile designer Daniel Rambaut.Īfter studying painting at the Slade School of Fine Art, POMPOM s founder/director Helena had a successful career as an artist and academic, but always had a love of all things design, textiles, interiors and in particular needlepoint. A bit of a variation on the Edge theme this week.Īs you might know, we love Etsy - they’ve really helped revitalise the Craft scene and they’ve just launched their first UK TV advert – check it out! To celebrate, we got the opportunity to interview one of the featured sellers, who just happen to make the most excellent needlepoint kits - POMPOM!Īwesome kits guys, tell me how you got here.