Meet The Maker - Astrid Weigel

This week we’d like to introduce Astrid Weigel, a textile designer maker who has a new collection of wall canvasses on show at the Craft Centre and Design Gallery. The bold designs have a folk art/ 1950’s quality to them, being mainly monochromatic images with splashes of colour.

Based in Ayrshire, Scotland, she produces a collection of home decorative accessories, all of which are designed, screen printed and sewn by Astrid who says,

’My aim is to create stylish, original, slightly quirky homewares which stand out from the mass produced products seen on every High Street. I like to keep my designs simple and use a bold, primarily monochromatic colour palette, with some embellishment done at a later stage using techniques such as applique and machine/hand stitching. A great deal of work, care and attention goes into every single item, be it a small pin cushion or one of the larger wall pictures.’

Take a look at Astrid’s video of her making a table-runner, it details the processes she goes through, from printing, to adding those splashes of colour using fabric paint, applique and embroidery techniques. Finally she sews the pieces of fabric together with her trusty sewing machine. It’s always fascinating to see how designers go about their work, as well as the time and care which goes into each piece.