Hello, my name is Net. I live in the Channel Islands in the UK. I love scraps of fabric and odd buttons and making them into objects that are beautiful and useful. I am a stay at home mum to my 4 year old boy. When I'm not sewing, I'm tending to my tiny plot of homegrown vegetables, baking bread, or playing hide-and-seek. It's important to me to teach my son that you can achieve a lot with your own two hands, that not everything comes from the high street, wrapped up in plastic.
Area Thrifty One has been simmering in my heart for most of my life, but only recently found a place in the real world. After graduating from art college in London in 2000, with a degree in Fine Art I had various day jobs, including prop maker, scenery painter and florist. I painted in the evenings and exhibited and sold my work for a few years. I slowly stopped painting and started sewing, making quilts and toys for my newly born son. Soon, there was too much stuff cluttering up my home and I started offering a few things for sale, and so Area Thrifty One became a reality.
At the core of my working practice is a belief in not wasting things, in making use of the smallest scraps. I use a lot of patchwork and applique in my plush animals and strive to keep them original and quirky. Each piece is one-of-a-kind, with its own unique combination of fabric patterns and colours, yet with a design simple enough to inspire the imaginings of its new owner. I take extra care over the dolls and plush that are intended as toys for children, I believe that toys should be lovable, squeezable and washable.
