Rowan Yarns Digital Magazine Rowan Spring Summer Newsletter 2019 | Page 44

BEDECKED IN FINERY by Rosee Woodland Playing with a button box is a delight for many children, and is a memory that Judith Lewis tapped into when she founded Bedecked Haberdashery. Rowan knitters will be familiar with Bedecked as the company that provides the buttons for the brand’s iconic patterns. It’s a relationship that goes back more than ten years to when Judith was running the business out of a small shop in Hay-on-Wye. Judith first dreamt up the idea for Bedecked after retraining in fashion as a mature student in her late 30s. She was raising sheep on a Herefordshire farm and looking for ways to diversify the farm’s income. “I had started with a City and Guilds in textiles and then moved onto a full time fashion course,” Judith explains. “And I thought back to that time because when I came to do my final collection I couldn’t find decent buttons or trims, and I saw a huge gap in the market. “It was something I thought I could do from the farm but eventually I moved to a small shop in Hay-on-Wye to run the business from there.” After moving to Hay in 2005, Bedecked’s profile grew thanks to the town’s annual Hay Festival, which attracts vistors from around the world each May. “The place was just teeming with media and Country Living did an article on the business,” says Judith. “I also had a Rowan rep come and visit and they went back to Rowan and said my buttons would suit a lot of their yarns, so that’s how I started with the company. “I was also a finalist in the Women in Rural Business awards and that helped build up the business too.” Judith closed the Hay shop some eight years later due to a family illness, but kept the online business going. Eventually she decided to move to Yorkshire to be closer to her son, and Bedecked is now based in Barningham Park, Richmond. A quick glance at the Bedecked website reveals just what a huge range Judith offers. In fact, she has spent the last 15 years creating an archive of buttons and trimmings to rival any textile museum! “It’s taken years and years to build up,” she exclaims. “If anything were to happen to it…” Leaving that rather alarming thought hanging in mid-air we turn to happier talk of what it means to run a business that’s also your passion. “It’s a bit like someone who loves DIY going into a DIY shop and fiddling around with all the bits and pieces!” Judith laughs. “When I had the Hay shop all the buttons were out in little dishes and little girls would come in on a Saturday morning and play with them and tidy them up for me, and spend ages deciding how to spend their pocket money on one or two buttons.” 44 Newsletter April 2019 | Spring Summer If you’re making a Rowan pattern that needs Bedecked buttons then the information for which ones to use is helpfully given as a code in the materials section. Simply type this code into the search box on the Bedecked website to find the right button. Alternatively, you can visit the special section of the website that’s dedicated to Rowan buttons - you’ll find the link at the end of this feature. Just as we tend to turn to the same yarns or designers, so you’ll find that the same buttons often appear in Rowan patterns. Judith adds: “They do tend to be natural - horn or shell. At the moment one of the favourites is a sawn horn button from an artisan maker in Germany.” Judith has travelled all over to find the perfect buttons and trimmings for her customers, and sources a lot of her products from France, Italy and Germany. Just as with garments themselves, there are trends in haberdashery that follow current fashions. “In the last couple of years copper has been a more fashionable material,” says Judith, “And copper buttons have picked up in popularity. It’s noticeable with colours too.” As well as looking at current trends, Judith keeps an eye on Instagram to pick up on what’s big in the craft world. She’s a keen knitter herself, with a particular penchant for Rowan’s Felted Tweed. In fact, she’s just designed a blanket in it for her dog - now that is one lucky pooch! If you fancy paying Bedecked a visit, you can make an appointment to stop by the Coach House in Barningham and round off your trip with a cream tea at Coghlan’s Tea Room, which is in the same building. “Barningham is a beautiful village,” waxes Judith. “So people are getting three-in-one if they come and see us - they are getting to see a wonderful part of the country, they can fiddle around with the buttons and then finish up with a very decent cream tea. It’s a great day out!” Cream teas and haberdashery - now what could be better than that? Bedecked Haberdashery The Coach House | Barningham Park Richmond | North Yorkshire | DL11 7DW Shop visits by appointment only [phone] | [email protected] bedecked.co.uk/rowan-buttons/catergory/ Coghlans Tearoom The Coach House | Barningham Park Richmond | North Yorkshire | DL11 7DW Open Monday to Saturday, 10.30am to 4.30pm Call [phone] coghlanscatering.co.uk/tearoom/ Newsletter April 2019 | Spring Summer 45