Father Rabbit presents (and adores!):
We are so pleased to announce that we are now the proud (ecstatic) stockist of the absolutely stunning cushions from New Zealand brand Sweet Little Days, lovingly hand made by Audrey Fitzjohn of France!
Our beautiful range of Sweet Little Days cushions are made from hand woven hemp and linen from the XIXth century.
At this time, making one sack involved harvesting the fiber, drying it and soaking it in a pond for 3 months. Once the fiber was softened it was taken out, trashed, combed and finally spun into yarn. It was then hand woven to make rolls that would later on be turned into sacks or cart covers.
The reverse side is backed with antique off white hemp sheets, with seams in the sheets stitched by hand (the days before a wide loom). Any imperfections, embroidery or seams have been left to make each cushion unique. These have a vintage feeling for a reason, the cloth is extremely old!
We have ordered 2 of each design, with the option of getting 1 more of each.. we have hand picked these grain sacks and they only a cover a few cushions each, making them very limited edition. These will go quickly so choose your favourites fast! x The great thing about them is that they mix and match beautifully.
We have asked Audrey a little about herself and her favourite Father Rabbit products.
A lovely read….. by Audrey…. x
I have always been passionate by all things vintage and antique. I started scouring flea markets at 15 boring my mum to drive me here and there every week ends but it’s as soon as got my licence and turned 18 that my passion fully unleashed and I then started travelling around France and Belgium to find more beautiful things! I would always come across gorgeous fabrics, grain sacks and embroidered sheets and napkins.
When I realised these amazing things were not being used and just stored in a cupboard I decided I had to give them a second life! I started sewing and transforming all my finds into homewares. My work, as far as I can remember, has always been about simplicity and clean cuts, I feel like the fabrics don’t need “too much extra”.
I started a blog about decorating more than 4 years ago when I still lived in France. I was just showing the decoration I had at home, my flea market finds and what I did with vintage fabrics, and this is where I got my first orders from. Soon the demand was huge and I had to give a date and a time to my customers on when I would have creations online, everything would usually go within 5 hours. I was also selling some of my antique finds on my blog or by organising private sales at my friends’ houses.
After 2 years of blogging I approached the editing brand MARABOUT who were very keen to work with me on a book where I would share 40 projects and give directions for people to make them. The book was a huge success very quickly. It has since been translated to Korean.
If you speak French you can buy Audrey’s book here
We moved to NZ with my husband 2 years ago and my only condition was to bring all my stuff with me, so here we came with a 40 foot container… I did a few uninteresting little jobs when we arrived because I wanted to learn the language and immerse myself in the culture. In June this year though, I decided it was time to go back to what I liked doing most, this is where I am now! I really hope I can offer antiques in the future, I see my creations and picking furniture as a whole, one doesn’t really go without the other.
Father Rabbit - Best Fatherly advice handed down to you…
Best Fatherly advice was from my mum who always says to me that “nothing is impossible and I should always do what I love in life”, she is very right.
Father Rabbit - Does anyone in your life share the same or similar philosophy as Father Rabbit? What do you get hung up about? What needs to be just right in your life?
I think many friends around me share his vision, I feel like our generation is all about individuality and doing things how we want to, which in a way is doing things right.
I get hung up about rude speeding drivers
In my life to feel just right I need my house to be in order all the time, clutter makes me anxious. I need my surroundings to be clean and tidy for my brain to be able to function!
Audrey’s Favourite Father Rabbit products are:
1/ The set of Murchison Hume cleaning products … because I am all go for natural ways to clean the house and their packaging is delicious!
2/ the fog linen market basket… I love Fog Linen, their design is so clean & simple, I could see many uses for this basket in my house (keeping magazines tidy by the bed, grouping cleaning products + cloths by the sink…)
3/ Plimsoll pair of shoes in white, just so handy for spring and summer, cute with a lovely skirt, casual with a pair of jeans and perfect to go to the beach!
Voilà! X
We also have bought in the beautiful lavender cushions to keep those moths away and to place by the bed for a restful sleep. Made from floral cotton from 19th century and the back is made from a 19th century plain grain sack.
We recommend a gentle cold machine wash for the cushion covers and no tumble dry. The cushions come with an inner. 45x45cm
