Photography by Richard Gary, courtesy of Stephanie Seal Brown Hand Wovens.
At last fall’s Field & Supply design show in upstate New York, Stephanie Seal Brown’s dish towels stopped us in our tracks.
Stephanie also makes equally appealing linen tapes and pillows and all come in refined linear patterns that she says take inspiration from among other things Agnes Martin and Ellsworth Kelly paintings candy wrappers and icy winter nights...
...with navy skies We caught up with Stephanie in her workspace in a repurposed textile factory in the city center where she tells us it takes 12 to 14 hours just to warp her loom to prep it
Stephanie at work on fabric for a custom project.
Hand Towels
Striped towels from Stephanie’s Classic Collection.
Initially self-taught, she trained with Swedish master weaver Becky Ashenden at the Vävstuga Weaving School in western Massachusetts, and has been applying the Swedish technique ever since: “There’s an exactness to the Swedish methods that’s attuned to the finicky nature of linen yarns and fine weaves.”
The hand towels are made of 60 percent Egyptian cotton and 40 percent European linen and are a generously sized 17 by 24 inches.
A towel to go with your art collection.
Stephanie’s motto is “bringing modern design to a craft steeped in tradition.” Half Blue Plain Weave, $120, is from her Half Collection.
Half Yellow Plain Weave, $120, is a combination of natural and bright fibers.
A limited-edition color combination for winter, Half Midnight Expanded Herringbone, $160, is part of a sub-collection of towels of 70 percent European linen and 30 percent Egyptian cotton woven in an expanded herringbone twill.
Linen Tape
All of Stephanie’s designs are “built one shuttle throw at a time,” including her linen tape trims, which are used as decorative borders on Roman shades, curtains, sofa skirts, pillows, and more.
Weaving linen tape, Stephanie says, is “very much a dance: Every pull is visible in the selvedges, every beat is seen in the pattern.” This one is Fresh Yellow Handwoven Linen Tape Trim.
The tapes come in three widths: one inch, 1.78 inches, and 4.58 inches.
Modern Neutral II: Field Lines has fine gold stripes running through it and was designed to complement “architectural interiors defined by space, restraint, and natural elements.”
Stephanie’s pillows are made of 100 percent European linen yarns and come with feather-and-down inserts—and yes, she looms the linen herself.
Pillows
The Agnes Handwoven Linen Pillow, $320, is Stephanie’s ode to Agnes Martin.
The Dorothy Handwoven Linen Pillow; $320.
Occasionally Stephanie uses her linen tape to make geometric pillows: Red, Black, Gold, White Pillow (left) and Old Tuxedo Pillow (right); $450 each.