Homegirl London pays homage to Jennifer Slattery Textiles. This business is all about creating beautiful table linen which evokes memories of a bygone era. These dreamy designs capture nostalgic memories of her granny’s best china and ornate vintage cutlery found at Paris flea markets. Jennifer’s style is a magical mix of romantic imagery combined with Trompe-d’loeil surrealism. This imagery is printed or embroidered onto premium fabrics to make her sought after table runner designs. Dress your table with the coordinating linen napkins and table mats. Jennifer hopes her pieces will become family heirloom treasures for future generations. I caught up with Jennifer to find out more.
Forks Napkin
Meet Jennifer Slattery Textiles Designer
Before Jennifer Slattery Textiles came about Jennifer was actually a Graphic Designer and worked in the industry for five years. She then returned to college to study Textile Design at The National College of Art and Design in Dublin, specialising in embroidery. After working at a London textile company for a year she returned to Ireland to set up her own business.
Jennifer Slattery
The success achieved at her graduate show combined with her experience as a graphic designer stood Jennifer in good stead to launch her own business venture. She returned to Ireland and rented a space at The Malthouse Design Center in Dublin. This location placed her in proximity to other creative people and provided her with a wealth of local craftspeople to tap into. By mid-2012 Jennifer, she was selling her wares to big retailers.
Jennifer Slattery Textiles Collection
Jennifer describes her designs as nostalgic eclectic – “I’m inspired by the past and anything a little worn but with character. I’m the fourth generation to live in my grandmother’s home so I feel a strong connection with the past and the trinkets she treasured. I hope my work will be much loved and passed down to future generations. I combine this subject matter with mixed media – paintings, drawings, photography and collage so my designs don’t look too perfect.” Let’s take a look at some of her collections.
Tea Party: Is a surreal Trompe’loeil tea party featuring teapots, teacups, plates and cutlery printed onto 100% linen.
Tea Party
High Tea: Pretty shabby chic scene of vintage plates and antique spoons with trompe l’oeil effect printed onto 100% cotton.
High Tea
Silver Service: A contemporary take on a traditional Irish table linen motif showing china plates and cutlery which is embroidered onto 100% Irish Linen.
Silver Service
Forks: Features antique forks Jennifer found at a flea market in Paris with a ‘herbarium’ plant which is printed on Linen Union. Jennifer tells me – “The fork print is trompe l’oeil style with shadows, a rambling drawing of an ancient plant features in repeat in the background. I spent some time drawing ancient plants at The Herbarium in Dublin’s Botanical gardens; it was fascinating looking through files of plants that were collected over centuries.”
Forks
Granny’s China: This design features vintage china plates and antique cutlery which once belonged to Jennifer’s grandmother.
Granny’s China
Granny Knew Best: Range of kitchen accessories inspired by an Irish granny. Features hand drawings of vintage china with antique cutlery. This pattern adorns an apron, oven glove, tea towel, tea cosy and shopping bag.
Granny Knew Best
Flora and Vase: Jennifer also makes cushions featuring vintage floral prints found on china plates and a vase from her grandmother’s house.
Flora Cushion
All of Jennifer’s products are made in Ireland. She uses locally woven fabrics where possible and the Irish Linen range is woven in Ireland.
Buy Jennifer Slattery Textiles
To find out more about Jennifer and to buy the products go to her website at Jennifer Slattery. To give you an idea about price points – Table Runners £40-90, Napkin Sets £40-90 and Cushions are £70.
Author: Homegirl London. Photographs: Jennifer Slattery Textiles. Thanks: Jennifer.
