StudioBudgeBudge

a collaboration with a small mill on the west coast of Scotland

‘Hands in the Earth’ blankets

‘As a child I had a blanket which I took everywhere with me. I remember it was small, scarlet, and loosely woven, it made me feel safe and warm and never alone. My blanket played a powerful role in my life.

And now I look for a blanket wherever I travel. It is hard to find a good blanket, so we decided to make our own to treasure, to love, to stay warm and wrap ourselves in.

To be a reminder of childhood’. Belinda

The ‘Hands in the Earth’ blankets represent the autumn and winter of field patterns, and a foray out to sea. Each one brings the wind, the earth and the promise of warmth and comfort. The Jacquard weave gives you a blanket to play with, to be wrapped in the rich walnut hues, or to bring a different kind of joy to your space with exquisite chalk. Whichever you choose you will be in the calm and safety of your blanket.

  • Sail Stitch

  • Sail Stitch

  • Sail Stitch

  • Dancing Ledge

  • Dancing Ledge

  • Dancing Ledge

  • Dancing Ledge

  • Dancing Ledge

  • Dancing Ledge detail

  • Dancing Ledge | Seed

  • Seed

  • Seed

  • Seed

  • Seed

‘The Seed pattern is the first field pattern I marked in my sketchbook. It holds a special place for me. It was on a walk through Higher Field, behind our house, that I noticed it. I remember the pattern stayed in the field for quite a long time. I walked through the field every day and I was drawn back to look at it. Something about the regularity and repetition of the marks, yet each one was different. The marks defined an area, as if someone had made each one individually within what looked like a circle. I drew the marks on gampi paper with a short stick, thinner at one end, quite rough at the other, found on my walk. Dipped into my pot of walnut ink, the mark varies in shape and colour, sometimes heavier at the bottom, sometimes at the top. The repetition of the mark reflects the repetition of my walks. Sometimes there may be a circle in the artwork.

What I love about the Seed Blanket is the uniqueness and irregularity of each of the marks, and the strong feel of the earth’.

Seed Blanket

Dancing Ledge Blanket

‘The original Dancing Ledge design is a pattern I noticed in a field whilst walking to the woods at Durweston. A field which this particular year had a wheat crop, and there was debris from the crop lying in the earth. It made a bold pattern, which I translated into marks on Gampi paper with some bark found on my walk. The paper is then stitched with walnut dyed thread onto Japanese linen. There is a wonderful irregularity to the pattern and in the blanket you can see some of the stitch marks of the thread. The pattern is named after a famous stretch of Dorset coastline known as Dancing Ledge. Seen from the sea, the patterns of the chalk stacks and cliffs reminded me of the field pattern.

What I love about the Dancing Ledge blanket is the unexpected stitch marks you can see in the blanket, and it feels like a special place where the land meets the sea’.

‘On my walks I often spot a repeat V shaped pattern in the fields where the tractor has ploughed. The marks made their way into my sketch book and they are a repeat pattern I often use in my work. It was later on that year when I was out at sea, I noticed on the hoisted, wind filled sail, the stitching on the sail was the same V shaped mark. The pattern on the sail was regular and repeated. I have combined the regularity of the sail pattern stitch with the irregular marks of the land, drawn with a cone and walnut ink.

What I love about the Sail Stitch blanket is the beautiful reminder of the sea, and how some of the marks have escaped the pattern.’

‘Hands in the Earth, the journey of the mark’ a film, by Shelly Nel, about the making of the blankets.

(September 2025)

The ‘Hands in the Earth’ blankets are woven in a small mill on the West coast of Scotland that uses the highest quality cashmere and produces for top, luxury houses.

The blankets are a cashmere and lambswool blend, finished beautifully with contrast blanket stitching. Each blanket is individually numbered from a limited run.

Size: 140 x 180 cm

Price £690.00

Please contact us at StudioBudgeBudge if you would like to buy one.

Sail Stitch Blanket

StudioBudgeBudge

a collaboration with Kirsty McDougall @Reweave Textiles

‘Hands in the Earth’ weaves

A project using local Organic Dorset Down sheep’s wool to make hand-woven ‘Hands in the Earth’ Jacquard weaves.

‘I opened the box Kirsty had sent me of the sample jacquard weaves, each unique piece wrapped in tissue paper, they were a joy. Seeing my marks for the first time in a weave, and the deep, chalky colour of the Dorset Down wool, was beyond anything I had hoped for. They had a wonderful smell and feel of the wool, a movement of the mark, and a reminder of the earth, visible on both sides of the jacquard weave.'

I asked Kirsty McDougall who runs the inspiring Re-Weave Textiles studio, to experiment with my field patterns on a handwoven jacquard weave. The provenance of the wool I was using was important, and I sourced organic Dorset Down sheep’s wool from the lovely and knowledgeable Ellen Simms at Tamarisk Farm, right on the edge of the sea at West Bexington, Dorset. Ellen let me buy the last of her wool for the project. The Dorset Down wool has a wonderful, warm, intense chalk colour. I dyed and painted some of it with my Autumn 2024 walnut ink. And I combined the Dorset Down with wool from a family, Zwartbal sheep which brought the dark, walnut cusp colour I wanted. I took the raw Zwartbal sheep’s wool to David and Ruth at Rampisham Hill Mill, Beaminster, Dorset, to be cleaned and spun. They were amazing and took me through the process of the mill from raw to spun for the weaves.

I chose four original marks: Winter Water, Sail Stitch, Seed and Dancing Ledge for the project.

Hand woven ‘Hands in the Earth’ weaves

Size:  30 x 36 cms

Please contact us at StudioBudgeBudge if you would like to purchase one of these limited edition pieces.

StudioBudgeBudge

a collaboration with Piero D’Angelo

Black Walnut AS24+

Black Walnut AS24+ September 18th 2023

Black Walnut AS24+ is a collaboration between award winning bio fashion designer Piero D’Angelo and textile maker, Belinda Budge, to launch Piero’s new collection during London Fashion Week, September 2023, at Oasis Farm, London Waterloo.

‘I met Piero when I was at the Royal College of Art. He was already an award-winning bio fashion designer. One day, in my studio, he said how much he loved my original field pattern artworks and suggested we work on a project together. The result, 18 months later, was Black Walnut AS 24+’.

Piero explores how natural materials and bio-design can be used to create innovative textiles and contribute towards slow fashion. Patrick and I created repeat patterns from my original artworks for fabrics for the ready-to-wear collection in the show. The rich hues of our trademark walnut patterns walked alongside the beauty of Piero’s living garments.

‘The creation process in which garments are grown and crafted, rather than mass-produced, reflects the slowness of the natural world, and the resulting pieces aim to inspire people to reconnect with it.’

(www.pierodangelodesign.com).

We made a film about our collaboration with acclaimed filmmaker Shelly Nel. (www.shellynel.com). You can now see the full film here https://youtu.be/JmSiYuVy6QU