A Fabulously British Twist For Jenny Henry Designs
Jenny is one of those rays of sunshine that you rarely come across. She is not only a fellow designer in this industry, she is a trusted a friend, a mentor and my needlepoint buddy. Since her young adulthood, she has made her mark in every nook and cranny in the needlepoint industry and has also found her footing in the future for the trade. Having started at Needlepoint Inc. in San Francisco in the 90s, she has seen her fair share of evolution in the needlepoint world. However, there have been some things that have been stagnate for too long and she’s on a mission to elevate them for a brighter future in needlepoint.
We were first put on each others’ radar a couple of years ago when we were both featured in a Better Homes & Gardens December issue. Over the course of a few months, we slowly progressed into a meaningful friendship and even collaborative effort! Valuing collaboration over competition and a desire to pave the way for a reimagined legacy for needlepoint, we decided to create an online exhibition series that would work with talented designers all over the world to showcase work, demonstrate a united front and create agency in an industry that doesn’t appear to value those of us who dedicate our lives to the craft.
The following summer, we decided to hop across the pond and go the root of the game- London. Having both fallen in love with the UK for a laundry list of reasons, it only made sense that we would call upon our British buddies and visit The Royal School of Needlework in thanks to our sweet friend, Emily Peacock. I feel so lucky to have been introduced through Jenny and we were able to have a hilariously fun whirlwind of bubbles, nosh and needlepoint at John Lewis before gathering with designers the following day at Hampton Court. You might recognize her for her feature in Parker Posey’s Go To List or spotting her tapestry kits in Carnaby’s Liberty of London.
I had been to the Royal School’s chapter in Colonial Williamsburg, and as a major anglophile, you can imagine I was very excited to finally visit this classic landmark.
While online surfing, you might find on the websites of British designers, their kits come in varieties of printed canvases, counted needlepoint kits and tapestry. Above are designers Hannah Bass and Emily Peacock. I am so honored and humbled to call them “friend” and value any of their wisdom of their experience as tapestry designers and their seismic influences on the industry. Hannah is well-known for her vibrant maps and Emily for her incredibly modern takes on horoscopes, historical figures and creatures. The piece that sets them the most apart is that they work with counted kits, meaning you receive a printed chart, blank canvas and threads or printed canvases. This makes their work much more affordable and accessible.
Hmmmm…. It is as if the US & UK independently tunnel visioned their opinions of what needlepoint should look like and ran with it. We learned so much in our time at the School, I gushed over the facts of the historical significance of Hampton Court Palace, saw the studio Kate Middleton’s dress had been embroidered and much, much more. Apparently there was a well-known poltergeist in the former Palace and Emily, the little trickster that she is kept creeping up on us. It was so hard not to laugh while on tour.
The view from the top studios where stitchers were at work in their diploma programs, was unbelievable. Very Alice in Wonderland.
After our guided tour of the school, we met at a local pub, The Prince of Whales, for some lunch and bubbles. Discovering that there are gaps in each industry, we were determined to build a bridge between the two markets and sat down over some champagne and fish and chips at and did a full on deep dive on how we could all come together to improve this industry. Hard working women who paved the way for even folks like me long before I arrived on the scene!! They also were completely perplexed as to why on Earth we would spend so much of our time painting! We would then explain that that is the caliber of quality that is market standard. We were able to all sit together and peel back the layers and find commonality as well as how we can help each other fill various voids.
When I first started several summers ago, I had talked to a few of these Brits about the printed canvas game and was ultimately convinced by folks in the US that hand-painted was the way to go. Though my regular catch ups with Jenny, we both vocalized wanting to be positive, forces for change and creating more of an accessibility to those in different socioeconomic groups. When we put a bunch of us together and talked through our stories, the commonality of it all was that needlepoint brought life back into our lives while going through really difficult times. The loss of a brother, the divorce of parents, the loss of a husband, a mid-life crisis, an existential crisis in their twenties, anxiety, depression, you name it, a woman has stitched herself back together with needlepoint.
Needlepoint allows up to stitch back up ourselves so that we can stitch up each other. Jenny is such a huge advocate for all of these values and more and so it is my utmost pleasure to share with you that she is beginning to roll out printed kits! Jenny’s designs are timeless, yet modern and transcend influences from well in the past and will continue to be of-the-moment well into the future. This is such an exciting shift for Jenny and I look forward to joining her, including this British inspired twist to my collection later this summer.
As for right now, Jenny has just launched her classic Retro Cassette Tape as a printed kit and it is available on her website for Pre-Sale for $65! It will include everything you need from the canvas, to a guided chart, an alphabet guide for personalization and all of the Anchor Wool you will need! While you’re shopping around, do be sure to also view her gorgeous collection of hand-painted kits! She is one of the very few in the industry to take on such a big undertaking while also licensing a lot of her work to shops all over the US. There’s a chance you’ve stitched one of her designs without realizing it as she has done so under the names of other brands!
She is without a doubt a hidden gem in this industry.
