Jessica Light describes herself as one of the last working passementerie weavers left in England. The artisan uses handmade techniques dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries. She uses traditional yarns and unusual materials often incorporating them with crafts such as macrame, braiding, knot work and beading. In an article on John Lewis she gives us an insight on the start of her career and on her inspirations:

“I set up Jessica Light Trims and Tassels in 2007 with the view to produce trims that were more contemporary and had a design edge to them. I knew that there was a gap in the market for something that used colour and materials in a new way. My most recent collections have featured paper, net, light reflective yarns, and leather. I’ve also used copper pipes, funnels and dolls’ heads for tassel tops; plastic cable ties woven in to make spiky fringes, and made tassels out of newspaper, elastic, and string.”

“My inspiration comes from all over the place. It might be an exhibition, a film, a book, a museum, an historic house, architecture, or sometimes it out of nowhere and I tend to mix ideas together. I don’t like my work to be too literal. I usually have between 2-4 collection ideas in my head in any one time.”

You can see more of her work on her blog and Twitter. Some of her pieces are available for purchase here in her shop.

Images: Courtesy of Jessica Light.