Look out - there's new designers!

Damien Barlow created amazingly intricate, hand-cut pieces with an original edge to them. There were a lot of laser-cutting techniques on all kinds of media at the show, and Damien's work really stood out.

Toni Giles wallpapers are so well executed and truly beautiful. Vintage, worn looks are a recurring theme and when done well they still look fresh and inspiring.

Jenny Callan created exciting and intricate black and white doodling taken to another level.

Francesca Baxter-Hunter showed some lovely ideas using delicate techniques on wood. Wood was an oddly strong trend, not only for interiors, but also as embellishment on fashion pieces.

Caroline Brown : I love this lady's needle-felted bears and horses. They're all beautifully detailed and conceived in such an original way, without resorting to being twee.

Having been up to this old textile malarkey for what feels like a mighty long time, I've been to New Designers most years, in one guise or another, either for work or out of curiosity.
I've missed it for the past two years though, so when my friend Nikkie Pea suggested we met up there last Saturday, I was well excited. Mostly, because I got to catch up with Nik for the first time in ages, but also because a trip to New Designers felt like exactly what I needed. It was great and there was so much to see - I'd forgotten how many students there are every year!

So, having seen all this beauty, I thought it only right I posted up a few of my favourite graduate's work. The one I can't show you is Julia Jovett, whose felted pieces were incredible, but her work doesn't seem to be online yet - I'm going to keep 'em peeled...

I should add that it was fantastic to have a day out in London (I almost didn't want to leave - almost) and I also 'found' (I don't think it was hiding from me) my new favourite shop Smug where I bought far too many notebooks to feed my stationery addiction...nice!