Meet the Maker-Jenny Sibthorp

Jenny Sibthorp is one of our favourite stockists, her bright and playful designs brighten up our shop. Jenny makes a selection of purses, wash bags, jewelry and home wares, all made to perfection. We love the lemons!



Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work?

My name is Jenny Sibthorp and I’m a print-maker/designer working from a farm studio in the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset. I work primarily with linen and leather and create home wares and accessories in bold, graphic sometimes colourful prints! I also do a spot of upholstery on the side too.



What inspires you to make what you do?

So my business came about after 6 years working in London and wanting to get back to my roots; the countryside. I moved back to Dorset where I grew up just over 2 years ago and felt incredibly inspired to create and use my hands productively. So if I do find myself in a rut, I will take myself off for a walk whatever the weather. I find that the open space, fresh air and a sense of total freedom really blows those cobwebs away. In the studio itself, I usually find that having the radio on loudly will really help keep me going if I’m struggling.



What are you working on at the moment?

There are a few products in the pipeline at the moment; I’m developing a range of shaped cushions to complement each of my four main linen prints. A few customers have requested that a few of my leather designs be worked into a linen pattern, so that’s also a work in progress! Lampshades too. The latest upholstery project is nearly finished now too, a kidney shaped stool covered in my Lemons fabric.





What do you love most about working in your chosen discipline?

Textile design; there are ENDLESS applications and variations and possibilities which is amazing and means I don’t think I can ever get bored doing what I do. I find screen printing an incredibly satisfying and rewarding process too, its almost therapeutic. Whilst the emails and the admin are all part and parcel of running a small business, when I get to print I can really see something tangible happening, I love it.



How would you describe your creative process?

I’m inspired by everything really, but as mentioned before being a bit of a countryphile means I really like to draw from my surroundings if possible. My Dry Stone Wall began life as a photo that I kept returning to, that I took on one of my favourite walks near my studio. I may decide on a subject and then do lots of research into that particular thing, drawing it over and over again in different ways, simplifying it until I’m ready to do a quick test run.



If you could peek inside the studio of any artist or designer, who would it be?

There are so many! I say this a lot, but Instagram is just amazing. I know of designers I wouldn’t have had a clue about otherwise. So if it’s from Instagram I will pick: Amelie Mancini, textile designer and woodworker, based in New York. Winning designs/products/general feed and just doing up a new studio with her studio mate – Ariele Alasko – another Instagram behemoth. Can I pick both?!



Thanks Jenny, very jealous of your beautiful studio! Keep up the good work :)