textile art
Nellie Blake
Please share a bit about yourself and your background.
Hi! I’m Nellie Blake, I’m a stylist, costume designer, and textile artist from South London. I’m currently studying Textile Design at Chelsea College of Art and I’ll be going into my final year in September. Within my textile practice, I specialise in woven textiles and my work focuses on archiving, hand crafted materials, familial histories, and mending. I also make handmade knitwear and crochet with deadstock and end-of-cone yarns.
What first led you to crochet and handmade knitwear?
I began knitting when my mum taught me at around 13 years old, but I didn’t pick it back up again until I started my foundation in Fashion & Textiles at Central Saint Martins, where we were encouraged to apply textile practices to unusual and unconventional materials. I developed this practice throughout my foundation and the first year of my degree, but when I began to specialise in woven textiles at university, my knitting and crochet practice became a place to experiment with materials and construction outside of the structure of my course.
Can you take us through the process of developing your pieces?
I usually begin with the yarn I’m using and plan my pieces around that. This is because I usually have a limited amount of yarn, but also because I am very interested in the materiality and feel of a knitted piece, and how that interacts with the wearer. For example, I’m much more likely to use mohair for gloves because it doesn’t usually come in large amounts and can be too itchy on the skin for something like a hat. If I have a material like linen I am more inclined to use that for a bag or a sculptural piece because it’s very sturdy when unprocessed. I also create pieces with practicality and durability, as well as design, in mind because I don’t think these have to be in conflict with one another.
Can you speak more about the impact that your practice has on your wellbeing?
It was during the first lockdown in the UK when I really became invested in knitting and crochet, and this allowed me to focus my attention on a new practice in an unstable time. I also think that “meditation through craft” (as said by artist Bones Tan Jones) is the main reason I am drawn to practices like knitting and weaving. I really focus and meditate on my craft when I’m making, and it allows me to be present and grounded in the current moment.
Where do you think lies the most significant potential to preserve important local crafts and traditions?
I feel that woven textiles have such a significance in every culture across the world, and can be a common ground in restoring our connection to the things we own and wear. However, the accessibility of knitting and crochet make it a way to involve many more people in conserving textiles as a community practice. In terms of preserving craft history, I think decolonising textile education, and learning about textile practices within the context of colonialism and whitewashing, is incredibly important. The education I have received around the practices of textiles has been divorced from their origins in cultures from around the world, and changing this will be a step closer to preserving craft traditions and the people who’s livelihoods depend on them.
What problems do you see as the most urgent to solve, in today’s textile world?
Textiles has an incredible potential to change our relationship to nature, consumerism, and to each other because of how integral these materials are in our lives. Textiles can form community through shared memories and practices, they can help us to understand our connection to the natural world and how we are a part of it, and they can give context to the things they own and where they come from. Using the potential of textiles to connect people to each other and to nature, instead of to sell products, would solve many of the problems I see in textiles, and the world at large.
Can you tell us more about your upcoming projects or any product development you are currently working on?
I’m currently working on a few styling and costume design projects where I’m incorporating some of my knitwear, and I’m also working on a collaboration project with my amazing friend Tasnim Chowdhury which is super exciting. I’ll also be going into my final year of uni in September, where I’ll be working on a project using naturally hand-dyed and hand-spun yarns.
Where and how can people engage more with your work?
The best way to follow my work is on Instagram as that’s where I post most frequently! If you have any questions or want to reach out, please do send me a DM on there.
Nellie´s social media. All pictures belong to Nellie.
