Lucy Davidson is a blogger, designer, small business owner and weaver from Brighton. Influenced by her home town, its eclectic charity shops, the relationship between handmade and digital and her fiancee, also a creative, Lucy creates gorgeously tactile pieces for hanging and displaying that bridge the gap between art and craft.
By merging a traditional discipline with trending contemporary aesthetics and modern design sense, Lucy strikes a wonderful balance that appeals to many other creatives. People come to her for one-of-a-kind, sustainably-made pieces with which to decorate their homes, and to learn the skills she has mastered in intimate workshops and via her craft and lifestyle blog, Peas and Needles.
As a freelancer, Lucy balances her weaving and homewares business with graphic design work. She also has a knack for ceramics, creating small pastel-toned pieces that she showcases on her beautiful Instagram feed. Lucy’s work is timeless, comforting and in some ways, empowering. Weaving has, for many years in may cultures, been considered a domestic undertaking, something necessary but also requiring patience and practice.
By blending this often female-orientated tradition with modern business sense and a unique flair for design, Lucy’s weavings have become sought after, as have her skills, as her sold-out workshops will attest. I caught up with her to find out more about her handmade pieces, her entrepreneurial attitude and what she has planned for this year.
Why weaving?
I’ve always had a thing for textiles, since I was a kid. My Mum taught me to knit and sew at a young age so I think for me it was a natural progression. Its also such a lovely break from my design work, taking time away from the computer. Weaving was a craft I picked up about four years ago and it just stuck. The repetitiveness is very calming and you can experiment with all kinds of yarn and fabrics. I just love how simple it is.
I feel like I have a very particular colour palette which I am currently trying to step away from. I’m experimenting with different colours and other ways of creating texture in my work. I love to create items that people want to touch. I think I aim to do that in most weaves.
When did you start working for yourself?
I became a freelance designer five years ago but have run my blog for a lot longer than that. I wanted an output for my craft and my blog was a perfect place to focus on that. I do wish I had a bit more time for it, but at the moment there are a lot of other bits and pieces that end up taking over.
Tell us about your workspace and your materials…
In terms of materials, I try to get all my wool from charity shops and on eBay. I love the surprises associated with second hand and I like buying everything in this way. I also think it’s good to use other people’s unwanted materials.
What kind of challenges do you face as a small business owner?
It’s mostly not having enough time and putting too much pressure on myself. At the moment I don’t have the right work/play balance so am working on that. I do find it extremely hard to stop sometimes.
What do you do when you’re not working?
Last year I started to learn ceramics. I’m pretty addicted to it, I also love that this is a craft for me. I don’t make any money from making pots and I just get to enjoy it. There is no pressure with it. I also love to hang out in our big blue van; we’re currently doing it up and waiting for the warmer days so we can go on some trips.
Tell us about your workshops…
I have also recently started teaching on looms that my Dad has made which is so special to me. I teach in Brighton, London and Bristol at the moment but I’m always happy to travel. I’ve just listed a bunch of new weaving workshops so you can find all my classes listed here.
Find more here
peasandneedles.co.uk
Words: Emily Beeson | @younggoldteeth
