A story of WEAVE
Meet ROSIE-MAY
Rosie-may studied at Norwich University of the Arts, earning a First Class BA Hons in Textile Design, specialising in Woven Textiles. This is where she discovered her passion for and the power of colour.
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Now working as a practicing Artisan Weaver from her independent Weave Studio since 2019. Her current collections consist of bespoke pieces, including Throws, Blankets, Scarves and Scatter Cushions for an Artisan market.
Remaining a keen Artist throughout her life, Rosie-may still relies heavily or drawing and painting within the design process. Each mini-series is derived from a collection of paper-work exploring a specific colour and yarn combination. Now, at the start of her journey, following the threads of a Traditional Heritage Craft, she endeavours continue to learn and grow her business, thoughtfully hand-crafting products with wonderful bespoke fabrics.
Rosie-may has been working with the Princes Trust since January 2021. Mays Wonderfully Woven is now officially a Princes Trust Supported and HMRC registered business. In 2024, Rosie-may became an Ambassador for the Princes Trust, supporting other young business start ups and fundraising.
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PHILOSOPHY
The world around us is saturated with Textiles made by machines on mass to follow trends and changing seasons. These Textiles are then very quickly disposed of as the next season swiftly arrives, bringing with it a whole new batch of cheaply and unsustainably made Textiles. I think it is important to consider where our work will exist within the world through purposeful making. Hand-crafting Textiles that can be appreciated and shared. I believe that the objects we choose to live with enrich our lives and help to build a strong sense of place and personal wellbeing.
Through the products I make, I hope to reaffirm the concept of emotional investment, re-connecting value with quality, materials and longevity, creating future heirlooms in the blankets and throws. I want to be proud of the work I make and what I put out into the world.
Mays Wonderfully Woven was chosen as the brand name in honour of my grandfather Albert May, I was named Rosie-may in remembrance of him. So his names continues on.
WHY WEAVING?
I have always been fascinated by the idea of creating something out of nothing. Using these individual elements or pieces, i.e fibres or yarns, then twisting, Spinning and Weaving them together as one, to form the yarn or cloth.
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The placement, colour and weight of each yarn is considered as apart of the entire piece of cloth, as each pick interlaces with the warp to create the finished cloth. Knowing I have done each part of the process myself by hand is such an incredible feeling. Once hand-washed the fabric becomes one, each fibre and individual yarn bonds with the next, creating a much stronger and tighter Weave, the fabric is then finished and becomes whole. At the end I can say I did that, I made that, I know exactly what materials were used, where they came from, how it was designed and made, and why it was done this way.
Today, I am making and Weaving very much in the same way Weavers have been for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
EXHIBITIONS
Micro, Textiles in Action, DesignerMakers21 and The Corn Hall, Diss, Suffolk, 2021
Tectonic Habitats, New Designs Leading London Graduate Show, Business Design Centre London, 2019
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Joy, Can I please have some attention? St Benedicts, Norwich, Norfolk 2019
EDUCATION
BA (HONS) Textile Design, Norwich University of the Arts | First Class with honours 2019
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Level 3/4 BTEC, P Regional College | Distinction* 2016
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PRESS AND AWARDS
Featured in HaverHill Press, Visitors flock to special Craft Fair, Suffolk News, July Issue 2023
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Interviewed for Creativity for all with Caroline Jestaz, Podcast, November Edition 2022
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Featured in Local Living Magazine, Art of the month, November Issue 2022
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Featured in In and Around Magazine, Rosie-may takes us on a tour of the life of a maker, November Issue 2022
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Featured in Velvet Magazine, Women working wonders with thread, November Issue 2021
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Featured in WGSN Future Strategies, Textiles A/W 21/22 Conscious Clarity 2020
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Represented Norwich University of the Arts at New Designers 2019
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Society of Dyers and Colourists Commendation Award 2019
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Featured in Storehouse magazine 2019
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Bradford Textiles Society Commendation Award 2018