New design – Sussex Oak

During lockdown our church in Steyning was closed for the first time in 1,000 years – Covid had succeeded where the plague and world wars had failed. Sometimes, I would imagine being inside this very special place which I love very much and I would think about the beautiful medieval carvings of fruits, leaves, animals, […]

Patternmaking workshops

During lockdown I’ve had more time to explore and document my pattern making process – and share with other makers too. I have so enjoyed the online workshops I’ve done with students all over the world – something I would never have expected and which has been a real treat in these other wise quite […]

Learning how to block print with natural dyes

This is something I’ve been fascinated by for a very long time and over the years pieces of the jigsaw puzzle have gradually fallen into place. Finally after much trial and error I have developed a simple process of block printing with natural dyes that I’m reasonably confident in and am able to reproduce and […]

Coming out as Sarah Burns Patterns

I’ve called my textile dyeing & printing business Dora Fabrics since I graduated from Chelsea – somehow it felt safer to be someone else but now I’m finally coming out as me – Sarah Burns Patterns and it feels good! Here is more about me, what inspires me and how I work (thanks to www.handprinted.com […]

Printing with resists & indigo dyeing

I’ve always loved working in negative – that’s the printer in me. When you cut a lino block you remove the parts you don’t want to keep so that the final image is the result of the all the marks you didn’t make…. if that makes sense. I’ve experimented with lots of different ways of […]

Elizabether Friedlander – designing against the odds

By lovely chance (I was just dropping off some more tea towels and pouches at the shop), Alice and I got to go along to the private view of the new show at Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft –  Elizabeth Friedlander: Typographer, Calligrapher, Designer. Elizabeth was a design prodigy, commissioned to design her own […]

Rangoli – sacred patternmaking

I saw my first rangoli on the steps of the Bank of India – an intricate chalky pattern half washed away by the morning rain. I was fascinated but my friend told me not to worry – the whole city was covered with beautiful rangoli…and so she proved right. Scattered on pavements  through out the […]

Crafted in the Factory

It was a lovely end to the week on Friday when Chris printed my Sompting design for the Virginia White Collection on his Gali machine. Monique and I print next to Chris on our hand-table  – but we have to do everything by hand – whereas he uses a Gali which has a mechanical arm… […]

Pattern making

Each time I come to design a pattern, I am overtaken by an overwhelming desire to discover the hidden order that will transform this random assemblage of marks and lines into a living whole that will dance it’s way off the fabric – it gets kind of obsessive and I find it very hard to […]

Made in the factory

I had a great day this week printing 20 metres of my hand-dyed cloth in the factory – these will all be sewn up into lovely cushions, purses aprons, teatowels, lavender bags… by the talented Beverley. We’ll be selling them at Christmas markets at the Downland and Weald Museum and Crafty Fox Market in Peckham. […]