From Osborne and Little to her own business, Sarah Hardaker talks to Emily Horton about her country inspired designs
Sarah Hardaker
- What do you do?
A) I own and run Sarah Hardaker Fabrics, designing and printing linens combining soft, chalky-coloured, English-style and French-inspired designs.
- What inspires you?
A) I love to travel with my family. We usually head off on holiday with our caravan, either around England or over to France. The faded tones of English meadows, misty landscapes and old buildings tend to influence my colour palette – and so, in equal measure, do the vibrant paints used on French shutters and doors. The nautical colours of boats bobbing in the harbour on Ile de Ré, near La Rochelle, are also a favourite of mine.
- What is your design passion?
A) I adore natural fibres – there is a timeless elegance about linen, in particular. I love the fact that it gets better with age and softens with handling. It ties to paint beautifully – the colour almost sinks into it. And I so like the relaxed look of a tumbled linen. When it is used for curtains, you can never tell if the fabric is brand new or has been in situ for decades.
- How did you get into your craft?
A) I studied embroidery at Manchester Polytechnic, though even then I was more of a product designer than a fine artist. I wanted to make beautiful cushions, blankets and scarves, so it was a natural progression to end up in interiors. Upon graduation I was spotted by Antony Little, owner of the prestigious fabric company Osborne and Little, which was a very lucky break. I worked for him for nearly 10 years and now put all that I learnt into practice with my own business.
- Tell us about your current collection...
A) It was inspired by our family travels to the north Norfolk coast and the villages of Wiveton, Blakeney and Holkham. I was enthralled by the big skies there and the swallows swooping through drifts of cow parsley and up into large expanses of sky. I always jot ideas down in my notebook and the Wiveton and Blakeney designs are some of my sketches. We hardly altered them, as they had such a lovely immediacy. We printed them, coloured them with our signature soft chalky colours – et voilà!
- What is your key piece?
A) That has to be our linen base cloth, woven at a small company in Scotland where they have been weaving wools and linen for over a century. Our linen took a number of years to perfect – it has a quality of old sheets about it and is truly beautiful.
- Where is your fabric produced?
A) We support small, family-owned companies and although we do source some of our vintage-style plain linens in Belgium, everything else is made in the UK. Most of the linen is woven in Scotland, while our designs are printed in Lancashire. I won’t say more – the names are a closely guarded secret! I strongly believe that keeping production close to home enables us to maintain excellent quality and offers great customer service. I am proud that our products are made in the UK.
- What are your top styling tips for your product?
A) I have always loved old things and – being a bit of a magpie – can’t resist using mismatched china teacups or little jugs with fresh flowers and old books in our styling. I also shoot all of our products in natural light.
- What do your customers love about what you do?
A) We are a small British business that offers a bespoke service accessible to anyone. We’re always on the end of a phone and many of our customers come back time and again, as they know they will be treated well with no hard sell.
- What are your top sellers?
A) Our vintage Paisley is always popular – it harks back to bygone days of feathery eiderdowns and lambswool blankets.
Sarah Hardaker will exhibit at Decorex International, Syon Park, Brentford from September 18-21; to browse her designs and learn more, check out her website at sarahhardaker.co.uk
Check out another one of our homestyle pieces like our recent round up of the top 20 Surrey home and fashion boutiques
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