About me
MoniManufactory is a tiny art studio in London, where I make with traditional technique textile works as a home textile, bags, textile jewellery and clothing. I graduated as a designed technology teacher from the University of Kecskemet in Hungary which is famous for its folk-art education, where I had the opportunity to learn ancient folk-art science and techniques in Kecskemet.
I taught primary school children about folk art for several years. We did a lot of exciting projects with the children, reaching and trying out the ancient folk embroidery, felting and weaving in Gipsy folk art.
In my studio in London, I make home textiles, cushions, textile lampshades, textile wall pictures, bags, textile jewellery and unique clothing. During my work I use natural materials such as 100% cotton threads, linen, canvas, cotton fabric and wool. I usually take inspiration from nature such as forest, field fauna. I am constantly studying the old folk art techniques of different nations and I display these in my work. All my work is uniquely designed and handmade. I use crochet, embroidery, needle or vet felting, patchwork and applique technique. I particularly like to use the granny square technique, which has inexhaustible potential. Colours and shape have millions of possibilities, anything from jewellery to a coat can be made from granny square. According to a 1946 article attributed to the Oregon Worsted Company, the thrifty women of early America would carefully save scraps of yarn and fibre unravelled from old sweaters and socks. As these scraps accumulated, they were crocheted into small squares; the colours combined on the whim of the craftsman. The squares were then sewn together to make a blanket which was both functional and colourful. Because grandma was no longer up for manual labour, she was often the one to sew the squares together, thus they became GRANNY SQUARES. The granny square pattern, technique is of older origin, says Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle in a short story: “The word Afghan refers to the people of Afghanistan. The use of the Afghan word in English for textiles dates back at least to 1831, when Carlyle mentioned the "Afghan shawl" in Sartor Resorts. By 1860, the word Afghan indicated the type of handicraft object presented as a noun rather than an adjective at public fairs and other exhibitions, along with quilting and knitted quilts, and was also mentioned in novels.”
The patchwork technique is my other favourite art. It is a really old method and in addition to being extremely imaginative, offers a wide range of options for using the remaining pieces of material. The patchwork date back around 5000 years to early age China and Egyptian tombs. Patchwork, also called piecing, the process of joining strips, squares, triangles, hexagons, or other shaped pieces of fabric (also called patches), by either hand or machine stitching, into square blocks or other units. In patchwork technique, we also use the remaining materials what left over from other work, which is primary for sustainable development.
The felting has two type prosses the wet and needle felting, these textile techniques also go back thousands of years. Wool fibres are combined into a homogeneous material with wet soap or a needle-punching method. So, you can create the textile yourself, but I often use it for decoration.
I either use embroidery to decorate my textile work for different decorations or I only embroider my canvas, cotton and linen in another variation with embroidery on patchwork, applique or even felt. I make my appliqué work exclusively by hand, I cut-out the pattern and then attach it to the decorative pillow, bag or the current workpiece I am working on with small stitches. I also use these mixed, I often embroider different motifs on them. My home textiles or other items are unique from one and other to the other, but if you have a need or an idea, please contact me.