Announcement:
BLIGHTY BLOOMS AT THE PECKHAM RYE FETE
Saturday 2nd September 12pm-5pm, Peckham Rye
Blighty Blooms will be at the 2017 Peckham Rye Fete with the last of our cushion stocks as well as some beautiful tweed, wool and other sewing accessories at greatly reduced prices.
There will be a variety of other market stalls at the event, as well as food, drinks, cakes and best of all, a dog show! It's always a lovely event so bring your family and friends to make a day of it. More information is available on the Peckham Rye Park website.
At our stall:
Tweed, wool and velvet cushions in a variety of shapes and sizes
Crocheted hair accessories and brooch corsages
Buttons, tweed, velvet and balls of wool all also on offer
Market stall equipment – lamps etc on sale
It is very unlikely that we will be able to take card payments on the day, so please bring cash.
Please get in touch via the CONTACT page of this website.
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Dear Friends and Customers
On the 2nd of November 2015, Helena, the creator of Blighty Blooms left us for a better place after a long battle with cancer.
She was a wonderful and talented woman, who put her absolute all into this business over the last four years, and it's testament to her strength, talent and constant optimism that she grew to be so successful and popular, making so many friends with market colleagues, customers and suppliers.
In the absence of her impeccable taste and skill for making old tweed beautiful and new, we are unable to continue the business, but we would like to thank everyone who supported her, by buying her cushions, carrying her gazebo, talking about sheep and everything else in-between.
At this time we are unable to sell on any pre-made cushions and definitley won't be able to before Christmas, but as soon as we have taken stock we will get in touch with those who have enquired and announce it here.
We have set up a charity page for Kidney Research UK in Helena's honour, and in lieu of flowers or other tributes we would be grateful for any support you could give to them: www.justgiving.com/helena-rafalowska
Her funeral will be held at 1pm, Wednesday 2nd December at the Honor Oak Crematorium.
Thank you again,
Helena’s Family.
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I started out by crocheting flower corsages using wool from British breeds of sheep and finishing them with vintage buttons.
I have always loved crocheted corsages (little woolly brooches) and their ability to give a very English and vintage feel to almost any outfit without being as formal as a brooch. They also make great hair decorations. Unable to find any that I liked I started making my own and before long I started selling them at Greenwich Craft Market.
Always an enthusiast for British wool I had soon amassed a large collection and wondered what else I could do with it. So I knitted my first cushion, a union jack, in Isle of Harris wool. It sold the instant I put it on display. And so I began my range of cushions hand knitted in British wool or made from Scottish tweed, plus vintage velvets and vintage buttons.
I try to source wool from particular places and breeds of sheep, directly from sheep farmers (in Kent, Cumbria and Wales) or from wool mills in Yorkshire and Scotland. So far I have wool from as far afield as the Shetland Isles, the Hebrides, Wales, Cornwall, Kent and the Falklands. I particularly love Harris wool (the same used to make the iconic Harris tweed) in the soft subtle colours that reflect the wild beauty of the landscape. I knit using my Scottish grandmother's knitting needles.
My mother's family are from the Scottish Borders, a traditional tweed producing area, with many old mills from which I try to source as much tweed as I can afford.