SS20: How It's Made

Hip hip bouquet! 

Our brand new Bloom Boom collection just sprung online and in-store, signaling the imminent arrival of spring (if we’re lucky!). But how exactly were these exclusive limited edition florals made? Join us as we head to our Kent studio for an inside look at the making process behind SS20 with a little help from some offbeat blooms... 

Big on earrings? Us too! So where better to shine the spotlight than this showstopping pair: the Red Hot Poker Earrings. Part of a numbered edition of just 75 pieces, this firey fanfare comes with an exclusive certificate of authenticity - bearing the name of the senior maker who handmade each pair. Wanna know more? You better read on...

Once the preserve of 1970's gardens, we’ve reimagined the divisive Red Hot Poker as an eleganza of laser-cut petals. Look closer, ten different colours are used in the Red Hot Poker Earrings, with each shade of petal laser cut from its individual sheet of acrylic. These are covered in protective tape to stop the acrylic from getting scratched or burnt, from glossy red to blazing fluoro pink, butter yellow, molten orange and lush green once picked from the laser, these precious petals are left to cool before our expert gardeners then get to work. 

“Acrylic is so flat and shiny, it was almost like a battle trying to replicate flowers as they appear in real life.” - Harriet Vine, Co-Founder and Creative Director

No pick’n’mixing here! Our makers then separate the pieces and group them by colour, a little tricky perhaps due to the protective tape on each side but don’t panic, our team deftly sort their pieces, no problem. We produce technical sheets for every single design which makes it past the sampling stage: these outline the design to the nth degree, including the length of chain, which size findings to use, how long it should take to make, where the acrylic pieces must go…

Time to get linking: each petal must be joined *just so* to a specific link in chain we’ve pre-cut to form the base of our scorchingly chic earrings. This is the tricky bit, so we tend to attach our earring hook to the top of the chain and use it as an anchor point from which we can secure our trailing bloom to a jump ring jar and methodically link each petal to their designated spot. Phew! And just like that, all our acrylic blossoms are painstakingly hand layered against a gold-tone chain, topped with a pair of fresh green leaves to recreate an arresting Red Hot Poker flower.

 Time to get peeling! Once each element is free of its protective covering, we give them a little buff to ensure the surface of the acrylic is as glossy as possible: ta-da! Pick up a pair online and in store now...

Evoke serious flower power in the Dahlia Sunrise Necklace. A nod to bygone florals from deep within the Tatty Devine archive and limited to just 25 numbered pieces, join our Kent team as they slip on their gardening gloves and get SS20 all sewn up…

A brief departure from the glossy acrylic synonymous with Tatty Devine, Rosie and Harriet jumped at the chance to once again experiment with alternative materials. From 2009’s varnished wooden Jigsaw Roses to 2010’s Pressed Silk Flowers, when tackling the tricky topic of florals, they love to think outside the box and transcend traditional jewellery making sensibilities.

The design began, as all Tatty Devine pieces do, in our Creative Director Harriet’s sketchbook: she puts her pen to paper and creates the first outline of a future piece of jewellery… Next: enter sumptuous layers of delicate Duchess satin, a staple medium for luxury brands such as Prada, Erdem and Richard Quinn, a delicate yet pliable means to carry their very own floral tributes. Jubilant bolts of butter yellow, fuschia, and pale pink fabric are each cut down into manageable lengths before returning to the laser bed to receive their delicate, laser-cut renderings of petals and pollen. Once cool, Team Tatty pin each piece to a corkboard to ensure the wafer-thin details don’t curl in on themselves overnight. Aww!

Y’all th-ready for this? Our senior makers are seasoned pro’s and easily absorb the brand new making techniques required to make these groundbreaking pieces: nerves of steel (and a strong cup of tea) are required for the next stage: each layer is painstakingly matched up, their laser cut notches *just so*, ready to be woven with transparent beading thread. One, two, three, four, GLASS BEAD, and repeat, until a ruched pattern forms and the feather-light stamen sit happily against a bashful platform of petals.   

“The satin just gives the Dahlia Necklace - Sunrise and Twilight, the softness and curves for an organic feel…” - Rosie Wolfenden, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Tatty Devine

The finishing touches? Trails of twinkling dewdrop-esque glass beads and an adjustable silver-tone chain: voila! Help yourself to this theatrical statement piece here, and shop Bloom Boom now.

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